And so, here we are with the next chapter! Sorry AGAIN for making you guys and girls wait for SO MANY MONTHS! The fact is, this pandemic made me really depressed for a while and I didn't have the will to do anything. Now, however, I thankfully feel better. For this story, I WILL PREVAIL! And with summer finally pleasing us, maybe now everyone will feel much better, including me. And there is plenty of free time now! And now, it's time for our heroes to begin the search for a hundred coins. I will immediately say that this chapter was a bit tedious to make since there was a nice amount of original content I had to put in to properly balance it, and I'm a bit worried on the quality, but in the end, I will say it came alright. And I hope that this extra long chapter will make up for the VERY long absence. I hope you will all like it as well. ENJOY THE STORY!

Review Answers:

-Yuderu Takanoburu: Hey, the argument needed to start in some way, right? Anyway, in case you are curious, the matter of Religion, how does it work in Gensokyo and how much it's different compared to other world (like the Mushroom Kingdom) it will be explained in more details in a future chapter;

-DietGingerAle: Thank you! And again, sorry for the long wait;

-VirgoDragoX: Thank you so much for the feedback and thank you for being honest! Again, I apologize that this chapter took so many months to finish. I promise that I will not let this happen again. And thank you for the proposition. If I ever need help to continue, I will inform you!

Chapter 6

The Hunt For Coins

Mario really wanted to know exactly how did the situation turn out like this.

In one moment, Mario and his brother were traveling torward the Beanbean Kingdom to find Princess Peach's voice on top of a air craft with quite the advantage in numbers.

And now, the air craft was destroyed, the advantage in number was also lost, and him and his brothers were stranded in the middle of a empty plain, full with all sorts of nasty critters, forced and blackmailed by a shady individual to find at least a hundred Beanbean coins, all in order to save the life of their arch enemy.

… Really, the entire situation was almost laughable if it wasn't so unfair.

'Well, at least now I can officially cross "being blackmailed" from my bucket list.' Mario though with a tone dripping full of sarcasm.

However, Mario was able to find at least some comfort in knowing that he and his brother weren't completely alone. All thanks to the two girls who decided to join them.

Reimu and Marisa. Mario was glad that they decided to help him and his brother. The help was definitely welcome… And yet. Mario couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more behind them. They told him they weren't locals which was obviously true given their peculiar dresses and their utter lack of knowledge regarding the Mushroom Kingdom.

But the real question was: "Where exactly did they come from?"

His fued with Bowser forced Mario to travel basically anywhere and learn about a lot of interesting places and their cultures. They were all very lively places full of life… but that was not the point right now. The point was, their dresses were something Mario never saw anywhere. He would definitely remember such clothes. And even if you were not a local, you would still have some small knowledge regarding other places.

Their knowledge was non existing. And not just regarding the Mushroom Kingdom, all the Kingdoms.

All this, made Mario think that they weren't lying when they said that they weren't from around here. But they did not say from where they came from exactly.

Mario, however, had a theory. A theory which only made sense when you think about it.

The place where they come from is another world.

Orto be more precise, Mario's birth world.

Mario still remembers fondly his days on the "real world", to call it one way.

Born in the town of Brooklyin, Mario lived there his all childhood with is parents and his brother. The two opened a hydraulic company as their main job.

He couldn't help it. Both him and his brother were always fascinated by hydraulic since they were children. There was just something so fascinating about how it worked, the complex but intriguing system, the fact that even a small pipe could change everything, all of it. So, it was only logical for them to become two plumbers once they were old enough to apply for a job.

Things went nicely for a while… until that day.

It looked like a simple job like any other. Mario and his brother were asked by an old woman to fix the pipes of her bathroom.

And while they were working, Luigi accidentally got his foot stuck in one of the pipes. And as he kept struggling to get out, his whole body was being absorbed in that pipe. Mario tried to help him, but only ended up absorbed by the pipe as well.

Eventually, the pipe sent both of them in a different place, full of talking mushrooms, clouds and hills with eyes and pipes everywhere. That place being the Mushroom Kingdom.

And the rest, as they say, it's history.

So, if those two really came from there, it would explain a few things.

As for the dresses, well… maybe they just came from a carnival when that thief robbed them… … But that was just a hypothesis.

However, what really made rubbed Mario the wrong way, was the way Reimu acted when she asked to join forces.

While it's true that working together they will have a bigger chance to succeed, it was obvious that it wasn't the real reason why she asked it.

Her tone of voice when she asked it was really troubled and worried, and there was even a pinch of uneasiness in it. It's like she both needed to travel with them and wasn't sure it was a good idea at the same time.

Mario isn't sure what all of this means, and not knowing it worried him a little.

… But then again, even if he hasn't traveled with them for long, the two didn't strike him as bad people. It might not seem like much, but Mario as was good at reading people.

It was a little ability Peach personally taught him. Being the ruler of a kingdom, she had to be very careful in knowing who were those she could trust and those she couldn't. And, with time, she became a master in reading other people. And so, she chose to teach Mario this ability as well, as a gift to help him in his adventures.

And thanks to it, he was able to see what kind of person the two of them were.

The blonde haired one, Marisa. She liked messing with people, and judging by the huge number of things there were in her pockets and hat, she was also probably a thief. (Which was really ironic given the situation) But despite all of that, Mario was sure she still had a good hearth.

As for Reimu… she was actually pretty difficult to read. Mario himself wasn't sure what to think of her at the moment. She was polite, at the very least.

In the end, Mario concluded that, his main opinion aside, time will tell what kind of people they were.

If he had to be honest, Mario was more curious at why they didn't just tell him the all truth in the first place. Then again, perhaps they were simply waiting for the most appropriate moment to tell him.

… And right now, it was definitely not the right moment.

And speaking of the two girls, they were currently having a discussion.

"No."

"Just trust me! It will be easy!"

"No."

"At least think about it!"

"No!"

"Come on Reimu! I would do it in your place!"

"NO!"

Reimu stopped in her trucks and looked at Marisa with an irritated expression. "For the last time Marisa! I am NOT going to act as a distraction to that big mouthed guy while you "pounce him"!" After saying the last sentence, she crossed her arms while still sporting an irritated look.

Marisa stayed quiet for a second before replying with a pouty expression. "… … I mean… I wouldn't say "pounce", more like a sneak attack, you know… like ninjas!" She finished with excited smile.

Reimu looked at her with an incredulous face before pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing, with the tone of someone that was currently reconsidering their own life choices.

After looking at that scene, Luigi sighed as well and looked at his brother. "… Okay. So, what do we do now bro?"

Mario stayed silent. He still couldn't believe that after everything Bowser made him, his brother, the princess and the Mushroom Kingdom go through, he was currently trying to save his life. He wondered why he had decided to go through so much trouble to help him.

And he realized why: he remembered.

He remembered that time when he and Bowser joined forces to save the Mushroom Kingdom. When the infamous "Smithy Gang" tried to conquer their world and reshape it in their own image: a world full of weapons.

That adventure allowed Mario to see a different side of Bowser. He saw a man that cared about his troops more than anything and that put their safety above all else. A man that would have done anything for the safety of his Kingdom, even ally with one of his enemies.

He also proved to be a very loyal companion. Mario, Geno, Mellow and Peach, he helped them more times that could be counted. Not that he would ever dare to admit it.

Mario owned Bowser for all the help he gave them during that adventure. And now, he had to repay his debt to him, he had to help him.

And he was sure as heck going to.

"… We have no choice but do what he said. We have to find one hundred Beanbean coins, and quickly." He said crossing his arms.

Marisa was not on board with this. "Ok! YouREALLY need to explain this to me! Why do we have to do so much work to save that guy… turtle… person, if he is supposed to be your "arch enemy" as you said?!" She said while pointing from where they came.

Mario then tried to explain things as best as he could. "… Look, I know this may look and sound really weird to all of you, but Bowser…" He stayed silent for a few seconds before continuing. "… He isn't as bad as he looks. He is not really a bad person deep down. And plus…" He then pointed a finger at himself. "I kinda own him for a little something that happened a while ago. So yeah. We have to help him. And another plus..." He then took a deep breath. "… He is really strong, like, REALLY strong, and we could really use his help to catch the thieves. The stars know we need it." He then looked at Reimu and Marisa. "So… those this make sense to you two?"

The two girls stayed silent while looking at each other. After a few seconds Reimu answered. "… Okay Mario. You clearly know him better than us, so, if that is what you think it's for the best, we will do as you say."

Marisa had a different opinion on response, with the same meaning… kinda. "Yeah yeah. Sure. Whatever you say chief 2."

After hearing this, Reimu looked at her with a confused look. "… Chief 2?"

Marisa then gave her a mischievous smile. "Yeah. You know, I thought that since you and Mario are kinda the leaders of this little group, I should name you appropriately! So, you are chief 1 and he is chief 2! Genius right!?"

Reimu responded by giving her a flat deadpan look. "Hilarious." She said with an equally deadpan tone.

Luigi cleared his throat to get everyone attention. "Ok. Listen everyone. I think we should start looking for coins. I'm positive that, If we want to find as many blocks as possible, we should go searching in the heart of this fields. I mean, it's only plausible, right?"

That statement made Reimu perk up, like she just remembered to ask Mario something. Which she then did.

"Hey, now that I think about it, I have been meaning to ask: That guy, Tolstar, he mentioned something about blocks as well. What are they supposed to be exactly?" She asked crossing her arms.

Mario awkwardly rubbed his head. "Oh, that. Well, I think it will be much easier to explain once we actually find one."

"Oh. Okay." Reimu responded.

"Sooo… where to now?" Marisa asked with her hand behind her head.

Mario put and hand on his chin as he started to ponder it. "Let's see…" He then started looking around to find a path to reach the heart of the plains. Fortunately for him, the path was right in front of him. "That way!"

"Okay then. Let's go." Reimu said.

Our four heroes then went torward the path chosen, hoping to reach the heart of the plains and finding as many coins as possible.

Our heroes reached the first area to explore. It was pretty small everything considered. Unfortunatly for them, all the blocks were currently in the highest part of it, where they couldn't reach them.

"OH, COME ON!" Marisa screamed in exasperation.

"Great. It would really make things a all lot easier if we could still fly." Reimu said with annoyance.

The Mario Brothers looked at them in surprise. "… You two can fly?" Luigi asked.

"It's a long story. I will tell you later." Reimu answered him.

"I see." Mario said then looked at the blocks. "I'm afraid we will have to try reaching those blocks later. For now, let's just proceed."

"Alright." Luigi said.

"Off to a great start aren't we?" Marisa said with sarcasm.

However, the moment Mario turned around, he saw some spikes on the ground. Very pointy spikes. "Okay. This is new."

"What? But- Why would spikes even be here!?" Marisa said, clearly getting more and more annoyed with how this new world worked.

Mario prepared himself. "Relax Marisa. Nothing that a good timed jump won't fix." As he said that, he jumped with style over the spikes, reaching the other side.

"Wait for me bro!" Luigi said as he did the same thing, with his jump having less style but reaching a higher point than Mario.

Reimu and Marisa were left surprised by this. "… Woah. You two are… ehm… very good jumpers." Reimu said with surprise.

"Tell us something we don't know!" Mario said, tone full of pride.

The two girls looked at each other before putting themself in position. Then, they both run and jumped as high as they could.

Reimu had absolutely no trouble making that jump. Despite being pretty lazy the majority of times, she had gotten herself in quite a lot of fights during the "incidents". And sometimes, danmakus were not enough, and it was required to get up close and personal to win. In those cases, Reimu used a combination of her Yin-Yang Orb and her Blessing Stick to fight. And she also had no trouble throwing a few kicks and punches if she had to. Because of this, she became really agile. Downright acrobatic at times.

Marisa was no slouch either, having learned to use her broom like a weapon against opponents. Which was pretty crazy considering that it was, well, a broom. And, like Reimu, she also had no trouble with punching and kicking.

So, it really was no surprise that the two managed to jump over them with no trouble whatsoever, landing next to the brothers.

"Made it!" Reimu exclaimed as she looked back at the spikes.

"And that! Is HOW you do it!" Marisa said with a tone full of pride.

Mario examined them as they panted. "That was… really good. Your form requires a bit of work, but apart from that, it was a really good jump."

"Good to know, I guess." Said Reimu.

"Yeah, it really fills me with such joy to have your approval, Oh Grand Master." Marisa said once again with her own brand of sarcasm. Guess not even jumping over a pile of lethal spikes can eradicate that.

After giving the spikes one last look, our heroes continued onward. As they were walking, they were approached by a strange giant insect.

A sight which made Marisa jump in horror. "OH NO! NONONONO! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

"Is something wrong?" Mario asked.

"Marisa and I already had a run in with one of those things. And let's just say that… it didn't end well." Reimu said while pointing at Marisa's wounded and bandaged arm.

"… Oh, I see." Mario said, a bit of worry in his tone. He then remembered something. "Hold on. I think I might have some informations regarding that thing. Give me a minute." He then opened the suitcase and searched in it. He then pulled out the book Russ T gave him and started searching information in it. "… There we go!"

He then started to read the paragraph on those insects. "Fighter Flies. These pests originate from pipes. The name might make them sound tough, but these guys are actually kind of elegant and graceful. Because of their place of origin, this critters are able to migrate in any place they want without trouble, examples been the Mushroom Kingdom and the Beanbean Kingdom. It's best to wait until they're on solid ground, then bop 'em from underneath to flip them over. If they get back up, though, watch out - they'll start gracefully leaping around a bit faster."

"Wow. That's a lot of information." Luigi said with an impressed tone.

"Remind me to thank Russ when we get back." Mario said as he put the book back in the suitcase.

"Ok! Yes! That's all veeerrryyy interesting, but now could you kindly, oh I don't know, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT THING!?" Marisa screamed as she pointed at the Fly.

"Don't worry! I got this!" Mario said with a confident smile.

Mario decided to go for a sneak attack. He slowly and silently moved torward the fly, while the others watched in suspense.

After getting enough close to it, he jumped.

The fly couldn't even react as Mario landed right on it's head, knocking it unconscious.

Then, to the surprise of Mario and Luigi, Marisa run torward the unconscious insect and started to hit it with her broom repeatedly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Marisa screamed as she continued her assault.

"Eeeehh… Mrs Marisa?" Luigi asked her with a worried tone and look.

Reimu however put and hand on his shoulder. "Let her. She needs to… well… "vent" a little bit."

"WHO IS LAUGHING NOW!? EHH!?" Marisa screamed before continuing her "venting".

Mario could only look at the all thing with a worried smile. 'Oh boy…'

While Marisa continued her assault, Luigi looked around, trying to find some blocks they could actually reach.

And thankfully for all of them, he did. "Mario! Look! There is a block we can use here!"

The block Luigi refered to had an arrow pointing right. Mario saw it before. "Hey! I remember this! It was one of the various blocks Shadoo teached us about! It was called… mmmmh… let's see…" He then snapped his fingers in recollection. "A Bros Block!"

Marisa, who had just throwed the insect she was pummeling off a cliff, caught on that. "Oh, so there are even different kinds of blocks now?" She asked Mario with a tone of both curiosity and annoyance.

Mario gave her knowing smile in return. "There sure are. Each Kingdom has their one type of blocks, and each of them must be unloacked in a different way, like this one."

"Mmmmh… interesting." Reimu said she looked at the block. She gave a little knock to it like when you knock at a door. She then looked at Mario. "Ok, so, how exactly do you open this thing?" She asked.

Mario started explaining. "You need to hit them with great force. And once you done that, and item will come out of it from the side parallel to where you hit it. Because of this, while it's not necessary, I recommend to hit them from below." He then walked below it. "Here. Let me and my brother show you!"

Mario and his brother got into position below the block. He then started to analyze it. "If I remember correctly, with this one, you have to hit it immediately after I do, right?"

"Correct!" Luigi confirmed.

Mario stretched his legs. "Ready Bro?"

"Ready!" Luigi said with a thumb up.

"3… 2… 1… GO!"

The two brothers started hitting the block. They did so with precision just like the two koopas on the Koopa Cruiser did.

Reimu and Marisa looked in awe as coins fell from the block every time it was hit. After the tenth hit, the block became immobile and it went from being yellow, black and white with a question mark in the middle to a wood brown.

In total, there were ten coins. Mario collected the coins and put them in the bag Toadsworth gave him. Thank the stars Tolstar allowed him to keep it.

The two girls were looking at the situation with different looks. Reimu, despite her initial shock, was getting really curious at how this "new world" worked. Marisa, however, had nothing but the general tone of someone who just decided to give up in trying to understand how things worked as she let out a sigh. "This place just keeps getting better and better."

Reimu caught that and decided to have a little fun. "Oh, what's the matter Marisa? Have you started… brooding a little now?" She said with a smirk.

"Ooooh, you are enjoying this, aren't you?" Marisa said while giving her friend an irritated look which only made Reimu smirk bigger.

Mario chuckled a little at the scene before noticing something. There was another block in the corner. He went ahead and hit it, however, unlike the first one, only one coin came out of it, much to everyone's disappointment. "…Well, that was a little lackluster." Luigi said with a disappointed tone.

Mario clearing his throat. "Okay, I think we are done here. We should go to the next area." Mario then pointed at himself. "And whatever happens, don't split from the group. Okay?"

Luigi nodded at his brother. "I will be right behind you brother."

Reimu finished smirking and looked at Mario. "Alright. If you think that is the best course of action."

"Yeah. Sure, sure." Marisa said without even caring.

After agreeing on this, the team proceeded to the next area in search of more coins.

Our heroes reached the next area. From where they were standing, they had a nice visual of the area. There were a few more blocks in the area, and unfortunately, also more flies.

"Looks like we will have to deal with more Fighter Flies." Mario said as he scanned the area.

"Oh great." Marisa said with a tone of hate and irritation.

However, something else caught Mario's sight. Something more dangerous.

Two black cannons stuck in the ground.

"… Oh no. You see them bro?" Mario asked Luigi.

Luigi did and shuddered at the sight. "Yeah. Bill Blasters."

This caught Reimu's attention. "Bill what now?"

Mario "I could explain you guys what they are, but…" He then grabbed the encyclopedia from the suitcase. "… I will let this book do the explaining for me."

He opened the book and started searching. "… … Here we go." He then started reading the appropriate page. "A Bill Blaster, originally known as a Turtle Cannon and also referred to as a Cannon, is a black cannon that fires Bullet Bills from either side. They are usually used as defense emplacements in fortresses and castles. While some Bill Blasters are pure black, others have a design (usually a skull icon) emblazoned on their side.

Bill Blasters are immobile and usually indestructible, as they are commonly part of the environment. Although they cannot move around, some Bill Blasters in more recent times have been shown to be able to rotate, like a turret. However, this has also made Bill Blasters vulnerable and capable of being destroyed. Due to their nature, they are usually paired with Bullet Bills as their main attack." He then closed the book. "And that is all she wrote as they say."

Mario was certain Reimu had a… couple of questions regarding this information. But clearly, she chose to save them up for later.

Marisa, on the other hand, decided to voice those questions immediately without wasting time. "Let me get this straight. You are walking peacefully by yourself, minding your own business, thinking of mundane stuff, when BOOM! Out of nowhere, you run into a sentient cannon who then, for no reason, start shooting bullets at you!? How the heck could anyone walk around safely in this world!?"

Mario could only rub the back of his head and smile sheepishly at this. "I mean… it's not like they are everywhere…"

"But… touche." Luigi finished the statement while also smiling sheepishly.

"In anycase," Reimu said as she sent the conversation back to the main point, and started explaining. "Those things are clearly more dangerous than those flies. We better be careful when we deal with them."

Mario agreed with her. "I agree. It's also best if we get moving, otherwise, we will never finish this hunt." After saying that, he looked around to see if there was a way to go down.

Fortunately, there were conveniently a group of steps in front of him going down the hill.

"Okay. Down we go."

The four of them carefully jumped down the steps one by one, until they reached the halfway point.

And there was another block behind them.

"Leave this to me." Mario said.

He then started hitting the block repeatedly. In the end, ten coins fell down from it. He took the coins and placed them inside the coin bag.

21 down. 79 more to go.

After this, they continued to carefully go down the steps until they finally reached the ground.

There was a big rock in front of them, and floating on top of it, there was another block.

"I've got this." Said Luigi as he jumped on top of the rock.

However, when he hit the block, instead of coins, out of it came a Mushroom, which he grabbed as it fell down.

"Well, it's not coins, but it will still come useful if one of us get hurt." Luigi said as he jumped down the rock and handed the Mushroom to his brother.

Reimu snapped her finger as she remembered something. "Wait! I think you mentioned this during your long, long, long, LONG," she said that while giving Mario a dirty look, which he could only smile embarassed at. "first explanation that you made when we first met each other." She pointed at the Mushroom. "If I remember correctly, those … "mushrooms", are used to heal wounds, right?"

Mario nodded. "Yup. All you have to do is put them next to you, preferably were the wound his, and this beauty will fix you right up. Heck, sometimes, all you have to do is touch it to make it heal you, altough, that depends on the situation."

Mario then put the Mushroom inside the suitcase along with the other important things. 'Not losing those passports. And I also better make sure nobody hears about this little mistake me and Luigi did. Imagine the laughs.' He rolled his eyes as he tried to pull the mental image out of his head.

Marisa rested her hands behind her head after gaving a long look at the mushroom before he put it away. "Mmmmh… healing mushrooms… I can already imagine the slogans your doctors can have: 'Heal your wounds and eat your veggies!' Phwwwwhh…" Marisa tried to contain her laughters.

Reimu after heaing this could only give her friend a deadpan look before looking at Mario. "… This kind of great pearls. Everywhere me and her go. Everytime. Try imagining that."

Mario… decided it was better not to.

After this comedy hour, they proceeded to go next to a big purple pillar. And right next to it, there were four Fighter Flies.

"Looks like we've got company!" Mario said as he went in a fighting stance.

"Leave them to me."

But someone else was faster.

Reimu, now with a serious and determined face, was holding some kind of wooden stick with pieces of paper attached to it. But that wasn't the really surprising part.

It was what happened next.

Reimu charged the four flies, and without giving them the time to react, she struck one of them in the jaw with the stick, knocking it unconscious.

Then, with an acrobatic jump, she landed right next to a second one, which then, she hit right on the head, also knocking it unconscious.

After that, the other two Flies noticed her and charged, mouths opens and ready to bite. She dodged the first by moving to the left and the second to the right.

She then hit one of them with enough force to send it right against a wall, knocking it out.

The last remaining fly tried to bite her again, but she jumped right above it and landed right behind it. She then hit it twice, on both side of the face, making it dizzy. She finished things with one last blow to the head, knocking out the last fly and ending the fight with a flawless victory.

Mario and Luigi could only look in shock with their mouth opens after witnessing Reimu's combat abilities. Marisa however, was looking at her with a wide smirk that basically said 'You go girl!'.

Reimu cleaned the dust from her dress before looking at what she accomplished. "Well, it's good to know I haven't got rusty." She then looked at her friends. "What do you think guys?"

Mario snapped himself from shock and answered her. "I… think, that… it was really impressive!" He then gave a small laugh. "Like, wow! I could really learn a thing or two from you!"

"Yeah! Same here!" Luigi said clearly impressed and just a tiny bit intimidated. "And here I thought that Mario was the best fighter I know!"

"Yep! You all saw it everyone!" Marisa said as she walked torward Reimu and put a hand affectionaly on her shoulder. "From where we are from, Reimu is quite the big deal! Believe me when I say that she can be a real force of nature when she wants to! Nothing can stop her!"

"I… wouldn't go that far." Reimu said while blushing with embarassment.

"Oh, come on! You know it's the truth!" Marisa reassured her.

Mario then looked at Marisa. "What about you Marisa? Are pretty strong as well?"

Marisa started rubbing her chin and gave Mario the kind of look a poet makes while they are thinking. "Well, I wouldn't want to start flaunting my incredible strength given the incredibly humble person I am but… Yes. Yes I am."

Luigi completely dropped his impressed look and gave Marisa a flat one complete with sarcasm. "Oh yeah. You are really humble alright."

Mario was interested to know a few things about her fighting style. "I'm really curious to know how you managed to-"

BOOM!

Our heroes turned around and looked at the direction of that boom, and saw two Bullet Bill coming to them at full speed.

"EVERYONE! GET DOWN!" Mario screamed.

Immediately after that, all four of them jumped out of their line of range and managed to avoid them at the last second, leaving them on the ground and quite startled.

"What." Mario started.

"The." Luigi continued.

"HECK!?" Reimu finished.

Marisa noticed two things: first that her hat fell during herfall, so she grabbed it and put it back on her head. The second thing she noticed:

"OK! IS IT JUST ME, OR DID THOSE BULLET HAVE ARMS, EYES AND A FRICKING MOUTH?!"

"YOU CAN FOCUS ON THAT LATER!" Mario screamed as he got back up and ready to fight.

Mario then helped his brother get back up and pointed at the two Bullet Blasters in the distance.

The Bullet Blasters started to shot more Bullet Bills at them, having targeted Reimu and Marisa. "WATCH OUT!" Marisa screamed as she dodged the Bullet Bills shot at her, with Reimu following suit.

While the two of them dodged the Bullet Bills, Mario and Luigi took this opportunity to charge at them.

One of the Blasters noticed it and started shooting at them.

The Mario Brothers skillfully dodged the incoming bullets while they were approaching them.

They eventually reached them, and jumped on their metal shells with enough strength to crack them. This caused their malfunction and to stop working, ending the fight and the unending torrent of bullets.

The two brothers begin to catch their breath while looking at the broken blusters. "That… that was really… too close to comfort." Mario said while panting.

"Yeah… tell me… about it." Luigi replied panting as well.

Mario then looked back at where they were originally before the bullet started firing and saw Reimu and Marisa catching their breath as well.

"Everything okay girls!?"

"Yeah!... yeah, we're good." Reimu said while she tried to properly understand what just happened.

"Oh yeah… REAL good!" Marisa said with a "slightly" irritated tone.

They then made sure there weren't more enemies around them. Thankfully, there weren't. After making sure, Reimu had a few choice of words for Mario.

"Ok. What. The. Heck. was. That!" Reimu said with an exasperated tone as she cleaned dust off her clothes.

"That, my friends, is just one of the many MANY complications me and my brother have to deal with almost on a daily basis." Mario said with a tone of someone who in his life has seen some serious mess.

Luigi then added something else. "And surprisingly enough, they are not even the worst ones. There is some staff out there that…" Luigi paused himself as he remembered the various horrors him and his brother run into, causing him to shudder in horror.

"You are telling me that you two have to fight those things ALL THE TIME?" Marisa screamed as she pointed at the broken cannons. "HOW THE HECK HAVE YOU TWO NOT GONE INSANE YET?"

"To be honest, I… ask myself that every day." Mario admitted sheepishly.

"Speak for yourself. I think I have already gone insane five times at this point." Luigi said in a matter of fact tone.

Reimu decided to stop the conversation before it went nowhere. "Ok! How about we get a move on instead of questioning our life choices?" She said as she gestured their surroundings.

"Yeah! Reimu already does that quite a lot!" Marisa said jockingly sporting a grin which earned her a glare by Reimu.

Now it was Mario's turn put the situation on the right path. "Right. Let's get back on track." The group walked past the broken Bullet Blaster and went up another group of stairs. After that, they took another pair of stairs which made them reach a high point in the area. And there, standing next to them, were to flat yellow block with two eyes on each of them. And the all thing was positioned like the pedal of a bike.

"Ok. And, what are those?" Marisa asked the brothers.

Mario immediately noticed something familiar about them. "Wait a second…" He started to examine them. "I feel like I have seen this before."

Luigi joined his brother. "Yeah. They do have a familiar look…" He started pondering and after a few second, he realized. "Holy cow! Now I remember! Mario!" He looked at his brother. "Those things were at that carnival we visited months ago. Remember?"

Mario took a few second to realize himself. "Oh yeah! It's true! If I remember correctly, they were called… Bike Pads!" He then had another realization and hit his palm with his fist feeling that he was truly on a roll. "And I remember perfectly how they work too!" Mario then jumped on one of the pads, followed by his brother jumping on the other. "Girls. Step back."

"Oookay?" Reimu said unsure how to feel about what was happening.

The moment Luigi landed on it, "the magic happened" as some would say. The Bike Pads floated on an empty space. The pad with Mario on it went a little higher up with Luigi's going down. The word "jump" appeared on both of them.

So, the brothers did what it was telling them to do. They each jumped with precision and attention, one after the other. Each time they did it, the pads moved exactly like a bike's pedals, one after the other. Guess that's where it took his name after all.

Eventually, the pads made them reach their destination, the top of a rock pillar. And on it, there was another Bros Block waiting for them. "Well, well. Look what we have here!" Mario said pleased as he positioned himself along with his brother.

The two of them repeated the same process until the block run out. In the end, they obtained 10 coins out of it, which Mario put in the bag.

'31 now. 69 more to go' Mariothought as him and Luigi went back on the Bike Pads.

After repeating the "bike process" again, the brother arrived back to where they were before, with Reimu and Marisa waiting for them.

"So, did you two had a safe travel?" Marisa asked grinning after witnessing the all travel. She had to admit, this "new world" had some really colorful and interesting creations.

"It was quite fun actually!" Luigi admitted. "Me and my brother did that attraction ten time at the carnival! It was just that fun!" Mario himself couldn't hide his enjoyment. "Indeed it was! It's seems that this "attraction" originates from the Beanbean Kingdom!" He then realized that this was probably not the only machination they would have run in during their stay at the Beanbean Kingdom. "Makes you really wonder what other interesting oddities we will run into."

Reimu however preferred to keep going rather than talk about that. "I guess we will figure it out during our travel. But for now, we better get moving."

"Oh. Right." Mario stated as the four of them went back on their little "quest".

After walking down the stairs, they reached a little cliff. Down it was the bridge to reach the next area. Thankfully, the distance between the cliff and the ground was pretty small. All they needed was a little bit of carefulness and attention. "Ok. Down we go." Mario said as he jumped down.

The other followed him, going down with attention. Last thing they needed was somebody getting hurt… again.

With their mind clear, they proceeded to another segment of the plains. Mario however was currently thinking about something else. He couldn't help but have this feeling that someone was watching them. That someone was watching their every move.

He had no idea how right he was.

Especially since a pair of binoculars were currently observing them.

The new area was almost identical to the previous one, apart from a few changes. Shattered pieces of broken glass were scattered all over the place. Thank God everyone was wearing shoes. Two metal barrels full with an unknown substance were lying against a wall. Many, and I mean many, sandbags were lying on the ground, forming a perfect diagonal stair. But the thing the four of them noticed first before everything else was a block standing right in front of them. Luigi took that one. "I got this!"

He then hit the block like the other before, but instead of coins, what came out of it was a bottle of syrup.

Luigi however did not mind this. At all. "Oh sweet! Syrup!" He said while licking his lips. He then looked at his brother with a pleading face. "Bro, do you mind if I…"

"Not at all! All your Luigi!" Mario replied with a smile and a thumb up.

"Woohoo!" Without missing a beat, Luigi proceeded to chug the bottle while the others watched him.

"He… really likes that stuff." Reimu said as she watched him drink the syrup with pure happiness.

"He sure does. He always the liked sweet taste it had, ever since we were little." This all thing made him remember a fact of their childhood. "You know, during breakfasts, mom always made sure he found a bottle of syrup ready. He put it every were; on the pancakes, the waffles. Believe me when I say that I never see him so happy like when during breakfasts." He then started to sport a more nostalgic smile as he remembered his mother. "And mom, she… she was always sporting this beatiful smile whenever she saw him so happy. Like what she was watching was the most precious thing on the world."

"Awww. Ain't that sweet. Sounds like she is a really lovely woman." Marisa said with a genuine tone. Even she couldn't deny that the story was really heartwarming.

"Yeah. She is." Mario said as he kept smiling thinking about her.

Truth to be told, ever since him and his brother came to the Mushroom Kingdom, they didn't have a lot of time to visit them. Between the regular kidnappings, the invasions and the life threatening situation, it didn't leave much for visiting hours. But the brothers still made sure to visit them at least once every month, and to call them whenever they wanted to. It was only the least they could do after all. They would never have become the mans that they were now without their parents help. They will always be grateful to them for everything they taught them.

Mario's trail of thoughts however was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"It… it must be really nice… having someone… raising you like that…"

That voice belonging to Reimu, who was currently looking sadly at the ground with her arms crossed.

Mario wasn't expecting such a reaction. But what really surprised him was the downright somber look on Reimu's face. What was happening wasn't a simple "moment of sadness" like some would call it. Mario had clearly hit a big nerve. And it was also a really awful one to boot.

Mario knew he should have probably left it alone, but if something was troubling her, then perhaps he could have helped. "Are… are you okay?"

Before he could have an answer of some kind, someone immediately interrupted the discussion. That someone being Marisa.

"H-HEY, Luiiiigi! Buuuddy!" Marisa said unconvincingly with a forced smile and a sweat on her cheek as she put an arm around Mario's brother. "So! How was that syrup?"

Anyone and their grandmother could immediately tell it was just an excuse to change the subject, fact which Mario noticed. Luigi on the other hand didn't, being too busy enjoying the sweetness of breakfast and childhood.

Speaking of him, he had just finished licking the remains of syrup on his lips and gave the empty bottle to Mario. "It was delicious. THAT really it the spot. Thanks bro!" Luigi said to his brother happily.

This made Mario break from his current train of thoughts as he looked back at his brother. "Oh, ehm, of course. It was nothing bro."

"Alright, so, let's keep going shall we!?" Marisa said with fake excitement as she marched onward, dragging Reimu along with her.

Mario was left a bit by this. That was probably the first time since he first met Marisa that he saw her acting like that. The first impression he had of her was of someone that like messing with other people for fun, and that rarely takes anything seriously. So, or her to act like that, it was surprisingly.

However, the fact that she changed the argument precisely for Reimu's sake, as that was clearly a touchy subject for her, proved that she really is a good friend and that she cared for her. And Mario was happy to know that.

But what surprised him the most was Reimu.

Reimu had given herself the appearance of a tough and strong young woman that never faltered against anything. So, to see her act so… vulnerable, it took him a bit off guard.

'I really wonder what is up with her. Based on that reaction and the topic we were discussing, it's safe to say it's quite the heavy topic.' Mario concluded in his thoughts.

Of course, this also meant that there was more to learn about them. He really needed to get the time to know them a little bit. Nothing a few conversations couldn't have solved.

… Later of course. Once the situation becomes calmer.

After finishing his internal contemplation, him and his brother followed the girls by climbing the sandbags. There they found a sign and next to it a star shaped panel on the ground.

"What is this?" Reimu asked, having regained composure.

Mario looked at the mysterious panel very carefully, but couldn't come up to any conclusion. "I… I actually don't know."

"Yeah. Me neither." Luigi added as he rubbed his chin.

Both the girls were a bit surprised by this, Marisa the one that vocalized said surprise. "Well, I will be! There is something you two don't know anything about! And here I thought you two were all knowing or something!" She said jokingly with a cheeky grin.

Mario then reminded her something. "Hey, cut as some slack. As I said before, this place is completely new for us as well."

"Ok. But what is this then?" Reimu asked.

Luigi started thinking as he then came to a conclusion. "Hmmmnn… well, maybe that sign will give us a clue." He said as he pointed to the sign next to it.

Mario concluded that it really was their only clue, so he went to the sign and started reading it out loud for everyone to hear it.

"Stardust Fields… Area… 64?"

A beat of silence passed among them as Marisa eventually spoke. "Great. That didn't explain anything."

Of course, right after she said that, the ground begain shacking, and after a few second, the star panel opened up and an elevator lifted two Toads to the surface. They were standing on each other, and their round spots were stars. The one on the bottom was green, while the one on top was red.

"Sergeant Starshade! The shooting stars we just witnessed were an alien bombardment! …Perhaps! In the name of the Starshade Bros, we will find the alien scum! They will rue the day!" General Starshade deduced.

The group looked at the two Toads in utter confusion as the green one took out a telescope. He then pointed it at Reimu and Marisa, leaving him a bit surprised. "General Starshade! Sir! I have confirmed the presence of two suspicious unknown entities!" He then put the telescope a little close to them. "They are both of a curious shape and mix! One of them is a mix of yellow and black! The other of red and black! We might be dealing with some serious extraterrestrial entities! Sir!"

The girls stared at the two Toad with the expressions of someone that heard the most nonsensical thing in the world, and neither of them knew how to answer that.

"…Eh?" That was all that was able to come out of Reimu's mouth.

'…Wow. Quite weird this two.' Mario pondered.

Luigi then whispered in Mario's ear which caused both to chuckle silently. The brothers decided to play a little prank on the two Toads, to lighten the mood a little after the heavy topic from before.

Mario and Luigi stepped to the right, and Mario jumped on Luigi. Then they stared at them.

"General Starshade! Sir! I have confirmed the presence of another suspicious unknown entity!" Sergeant Starshade confirmed. "It is a vivid green colour that pierces the eye!"

Mario and Luigi walked to the left and General Starshade took out a red telescope too and looked.

"Hmm! Yes! Sighting confirmed! However, I see not green, but red!" General Starshade also confirmed. "Urgent! Pursue additional visual contact immediately!"

Mario and Luigi walked to the middle and stepped back a bit. Then the Starshade Bros put away their telescopes, and saw the Mario Bros mirroring them. They scuttled to the left and right randomly, and the Mario Bros mirrored them perfectly. Then they walked closer to each other, and the General started to make random poses and whatnot, still being mirrored.

And all the while, Reimu and Marisa could do nothing but stare at this event unfolding in front of their eyes, neither of them unsure at how to react. How could anyone react at what they were witnessing.

"… Reimu?"

"… Yes?"

"… What. The heck. Have we. Gotten ourselfs. into?"

"… I… really wish I could answer that."

After a bit, the two living pyramides stepped back, and flapped their hands. Then the Starshade Bros did what could only be described as a "dual spin jump". The Mario Bros stared in confusion as they tried to imitate that, unfortunately the only one that started spinning was Mario, who then accidentally launched himself at the two Starshade Bros, knocking all three of them on the ground.

The two Toads however were no worse for wear. In fact, they were ecstatic.

"Oh! Incredible! It is none other than Mario from the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Luigi sighting confirmed!"

"Sergeant Starshade! Change of mission objective! Obtain autographs, STAT!"

The three of them went back to their feet as the red Toad greeted them with enthusiasm.

"I must say! It truly is an honor to meet such huge celebrities! And from a far away land non the less!" He then saluted them. "It's a pleasure to meet you all! I'm General Starshade!"

The green Toad then saluted them himself. "And I'm Sergeant Starshade! And we are…"

The two of them then made a pose like they were a super hero duo. "THE STARSHADE BROTHERS! The protectors of the Stardust Fields!"

A few awkward moments passed as no one said anything and the two toads kept posing immobile. Thankfully the silence was broken by Mario clearing is throat. If you ask me, he only did it just to stop the silence.

After that, the Starshade brothers broke out of their pose and General Starshade started explaining, "Our job is to keep the Stardust Fields safe from anything dangerous! And to make sure that this danger doesn't reach the Beanbean Kingdom!" Sergeant Starshade continued. "So, imagine our surprise when we witness a giant flying metallic Koopa and two red and green meteors falling down from the sky and right in the Fields!" General Starshade finished. "And now, we are going to assume that those meteorites were you two! Correct?"

The Mario Bros looked at each other with embarrassed expressions.

"Ehm, yes. That was us." Mario admitted.

General Starshade nodded as he started gritting his teeth. "I see! And do tell! What is that bring such famous individuals like yourselfs here?!" He then looked at Reimu and Marisa. "And who are this two clearly unfamous and common individuals!? Why are you with them!? And why are they dressed like they just came from a carnival!?"

The girls really didn't know how to answer that. They run into a lot of strange things into that world. Giant smiling insects, bullets with faces, talking turtles and talking mushrooms. They thought nothing could surprise them anymore.

And yet, the carnival line still managed to get caught them off guard.

"Whoa. Thanks a lot pal." That was all Marisa was able to say.

Mario rubbed the back of his neck as he prepared himself. Oh, boy. This was going to be a LONG explanation.

"Well, you see…"

And so, he told them everything.

The arrival of the mysterious ambassador.

The theft of the princess voice.

The crash of the Koopa Cruiser.

The sudden arrival in the Stardust Fields.

And lastly, the blackmail and the current hunt for one hundred coins.

After Mario finished the tale, General Starshade was looking at him with an intrigued look while gritting his teeth. Clearly, it was a nervous habit. "Hmm… I see…" General Starshade trailed. "Incredible! To think… Princess Peach's lovely voice in the hands of some vile enemy! Her voice must be recovered, no matter what it takes! Priority one, Sergeant Starshade! We must provide as much field support as we can! And I think I know just what we could do!" He finished while giving a knowing look to the Sergeant, who immediately knew what he was aiming at.

"Very Well! As you wish General!" He then pointed at the other two brothers. "MARIO BROS! We, the Starshade Bros, will teach you the secrets of Bros Action!"

"Bros action?" Luigi wondered, but before he could have an answer, the sergeant continued.

"Master Mario! Master Luigi! Special Bros Action training shall commence immediately! Are you ready to undergo training?"

"Yes, sir!" Mario and Luigi chirped, having gotten into the all "military training" thing.

After saying that, sergeant Starshade walked to the other duo and gave them an apologetic look. "I'm afraid that this techniques can only be learned by the Mario Bros themselves! Apologies for keeping you two excluded!" Then General Starshade chirped in. "But feel free to watch the training and learn the true power of brotherly bonds!" He then handed them over two bags of popcorns and two bottles of soda of all things. "Here is produce and beverages to properly enjoy the show ladies!"

"Eeehhh, thank you?" Reimu said confused as she grabbed her bag and bottle.

"Food! Thank the stars!" Marisa immediately grabbed the popcorns and chomped a few of them. "Much better. I was really starving. Thanks a lot you two!"

After grabbing their food, they both sat on a rock so they could properly watch and enjoy the "show". Marisa chomping popcorns with glee while Reimu watched what was unfolding with curiosity and intrigue.

The training started.

"When you wish to jump up to a high ledge, Luigi can jump on Mario to perform a High Jump. At the moment you jump on him, bounce off him!" Sergeant Starshade instructed as he demonstrated it on a nearby high ledge. "See? You can jump higher than you can on your own! Indeed, it's jumping synergy!"

"Very well, Luigi! Then use the High Jump you just learned to reach the ledge on the right!" General Starshade ordered.

Luigi started bouncing on Mario, and when he timed it right, Luigi started to soar into the air but Mario grabbed Luigi's leg, and Mario went into the air too. They landed on the high ledge to the right.

"Excellent work, men!" Sergeant Starshade complimented. "If you use your High Jump, you can climb ledges that you could never climb alone!"

"Now for the next Bros Action!" General Starshade shouted. "But first, Mario, sir, you move to the rear…"

"For the Spin Jump, first, Mario jumps on Luigi, then you stick your hands out." General Starshade instructed, demonstrating as he went along. "See? You ride piggyback! Now, if you focus your spin power, the two of you spin through the air together!

The Starshade Bros flew across a gap using the Spin Jump.

"It is possible to use this Spin Jump to jump across wide valleys and dangerous pits!" General Starshade explained. "Very well, Mario! Then use your Spin Jump to reach the ledge on the right!"

Mario and Luigi quickly swapped places, and Mario jumped on Luigi. Then they stuck their arms out, and charged up their spin power. Then they spun, and made it to the other side.

"Awesome!" cried Luigi.

"Excellent!" General Starshade complimented.

"See, boys, actions that the rear member performs are called Bros Actions! There are more actions only brothers like you can perform!" Sergeant Starshade explained.

"Training Complete!" General Starshade yelled.

The girls had just finished with their food and drinks when the training finished. Marisa in particular was patting her belly with a satisfied expression. "I think I can officially say this was the best part of this adventure!" She then wrapped her arm around Reimu. "Wasn't that sweet? Dinner with a nice show to pair with it!"

"I would hardly call that a dinner and that a show, but I see what you mean." She then removed her friend arm from her shoulder before thinking back at what they saw. "Speaking of that training, I must say I've never seeing such a skill full use of team work before. Even we could take a few pointers from them."

"Just so we are clear, I'm not holding you on my shoulder." Marisa immediately informed her best friend.

"Why? You think that this skinny and agile sixteen years old teenager might be too much for your noodle arms?" Reimu quickly rebutted with a smirk.

"Oh please! More like noodles of steel! Take a look at this!" Marisa then proceeded to make a bunch of very exaggerated flexing poses while making ridiculous sounds, making Reimu more and more embarrassed as she kept doing them, ending with her doing a facepalm. Not that this stopped Marisa.

"Marisa. Please, stop. It physically hurts me watching that." Reimu said while pinching the bridge of her nose.

While this was happening, Mario and Luigi were having a chat with the Starshade Bros, who were complimenting them for their success in the training practice. "Excellent! That was some real fine work Mario Brothers! Now, the proving grounds! The time has come to show the fruits of your training!" General Starshade began. "You must use the High Jump and Spin Jump we just taught you…to reach the flag way up there!" He then pointed at the top of the highest point of the area, where a flag was standing. "Good luck, soldiers!"

"Wow. That's… really high." Mario said with unease as him and his brother looked at their supposed destination.

"No kidding." Luigi replied with a bit of fear.

Immediately shacking off the uneasiness, Mario gave his brother a determined look. "Well, no matter. Come on! It's time to put to test what we learned!"

"R-Right!" Luigi said, trying to put a brave face.

Mario then realized that Reimu and Marisa couldn't follow them up there do to lacking the appropriate abilities. So, he informed them. "Could you two wait for us here while me and my brother do this?" He asked them.

"Sure. We'll wait here." Reimu said.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't take too long." Marisa added with an annoyed tone.

After having the confirmation, Mario and Luigi stretched their arms and legs to prepare themself. Mario then adjusted his hat. "Alright. Let's get started bro." He said to his brother.

"Right behind you bro." Luigi answered him.

Mario and Luigi ran east to some barrels, which they High Jumped on to. Then they ran east another pair of barrels, which they also High Jumped on to. Then they High Jumped on to a nearby ledge.

"We're about halfway there! Come on!" Luigi shouted as they swapped spots.

They did a Spin Jump to the left, and landed on a really high ledge. He then made the horrible mistake of looking down.

"Oh geez! I really shouldn't have done that!" Luigi spoke to himself, trying to not look down anymore.

They High Jumped on to an even higher ledge north of them, and Mario nabbed the Mushroom from a nearby block.

"Last stretch!" Mario said as he looked at their destination that was on very close reach now.

With determination, the two brothers spun one last time to the left, were they finally reached the flag.

"We did it! Wohoo!" Luigi exclaimed in celebration as him and his brother high fived.

"Hmm… Incredible! Master Mario! Master Luigi! You truly are super brothers! I salute you!" General Starshade shouted from the bottom.

"You have perfectly mastered the High Jump and the Spin Jump!" Sergeant Starshade confirmed.

"Master Mario! Master Luigi! May your mission be successful!" He then looked at the girls. "Mistress Marisa! Mistress Reimu! It was a pleasure to meet you two as well! I'm sure that you and the Mario Bros will be a great help to each other!" The Starshade brothers the proceeded to give all of them a salute as a proper goodbye. "Good luck out there! MOVE OUT!" General Starshade yelled and him and his brother went down along with the elevator, which immediately closed after if finished.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting duo of individuals." Reimu said while looking at the closed star panel.

"You can say crazy if you want to. They can't hear you anymore." Marisa added, as always brutally honest with her opinion on other people.

She then remembered that the two brothers were still up where the flag was. "HEY, YOU TWO! HOW ABOUT GETTING DOWN HERE SO WE CAN KEEP GOING!?" She screamed so that the two could hear her.

"I HEAR YOU! JUST GIVE US A FEW MINUTES! GETTING DOWN FROM DOWN HERE AIN'T EXACTLY EASY!" Mario screamed as well, again so they could hear him.

"JUST HURRY UP!"

Before going back, they took the time to hit the block that was right next to them. Guess they didn't notice it at first with the objective they were given.

Another Syrup came from it, releasing another Yippee from Luigi, to which Mario rolled his eyes affectionally.

Putting the Syrup in the suitcase, the Mario Brother used their just learned new techniques to do the course all over again, this time from end to start.

After a few more bros actions, the Mario Brothers arrived back to were they started the training, with Reimu and Marisa waiting for them.

"So, enjoyed the military training?" Marisa asks them with her usual playful attitude.

"I will say, it wasn't as… brutal and unforgiving as I imagined it." Mario answers her. It truly wasn't. Shadoo attitude on the Koopa Cruiser made him think that all Drill Sergeants were nasty individuals. But in the end, it varies from one individual to another.

"It's true. Heck, if I have to be honest, I even had fun!" Luigi said happily while hitting this palm with his fist. "And now, we even have new abilities we can use together!"

"I can safely say that those… Bros action, or whatever they were called, are going to be very useful in our search." Reimu added raising a finger.

"I was thinking the same thing. There are definitely going to be more obstacles on our road. Having a way to circumnavigate them is always helpful." Mario said adjusting his hat. If he really wanted to be honest with himself, those new moves were a surprise for him.

Mario had used the spin jump for who knows how long. And when he did it, it was always by himself. To think that it could have being used like that in duo, he never really thought about that. It was surprising to say the least.

Marisa however had once again other priorities. "I have to say, those are some sick new moves you two just learned! Especially that double spin! You look like a mini tornado that just devoured a cart full of tomatoes and cabages! Hehehehe!" Marisa said with a gleeful smile, once again laughing at her own jokes.

Reimu was once again not amused as she gave her a deadpan look. "You really don't have anything better to do than say stupid jokes?"

Marisa in return answered that by putting two fingers on her lips and a hand on her shoulder. Her tone was what you would describe as 'pretending to make an important thought while making fun of you.' "Reimu. Reimu, Reimu, Reimu. There are various kinds of individuals in this world. Me, I'm what they call a jokester. You, are something generations have being calling… the brooder."

Mario was almost positive Reimu was getting very close to launch into a screaming fit. The twitching eye was a definite give away.

He decided to prevent it from happening. "Ehm, how about we just, you know, keep going?" He asked with sweat dropping on his forehead.

"Yes, I ehm, agree." Luigi said, then cleared his throat out of awkwardness, before going back to topic. "I think South is where our next area to explore is." He said pointing to a wooden bridge that was in fact, directed South.

"Alright then." Mario said adjusting his hat with a determined expression. "Let's-a-go everyone!"

With Mario leading, Luigi right next to him, Reimu that was taking deep breaths to remain calm and Marisa that was trying, and failing, to suppress laughter, the group continued south to find more coins.

Mario was positive that they were going to need those new techniques, the Bros action, to find the remaining coins they needed.

And maybe also a bit of luck.

I'M DOOOOONNNNEEEEEEE! HAAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHA! Ok, now that I let myself go, I can finally say hallelujah! Again, I'm really sorry that this chapter took so many moths to finish! I swear on my honor that it won't happen again. Also, WOW! MORE THAT 10000 WORDS! I can officially say this is the longest chapter I have written so far! I'm quite proud of that! And to think, WE ARE STILL NOT DONE WITH THE STARDUST FIELDS! Just to be clear, I wasn't planning to make this chapter so long. But you now how it goes, when you write, new ideas start to flow in your head and you just HAVE to write them! Also, again, consider this extra long chapter my way to apologize for the INSANELY long wait! Also sorry, but no Omake this time! But it will be in next chapter, I promise! Anyway, that's it. Next time, the coin hunts finally ends and Tolstar will be confronted. SEE YOU NEXT TIME!