Chapter 5: Forever Wandering

"Does the forest seem... different to you?" Peach asked the group trailing her.

The forest they had been hiking through had gradually changed for the worst. The bright, cheery greenery had seemingly vanished, and greyish- green toned leaves took their place. The branches of the trees twisted in nearly impossible angles, seemingly reaching out to grab them, but only brushing the sides of their arms instead. It was dark, and the twisted forms of the trees gave the illusion of menacing faces and figures. The leaves on the gnarled trees reached up to the sky, blocking out nearly all the light. A few patches of dim light told them that the sun had set, or was in the process of setting, and it would soon be even darker.

"Now that you mention it..." Mario began, nervously glancing at one of the menacing trees, "something seems slightly different."

"Really, what gave you that idea? Could it be the devilish trees? The overpowering darkness?" Luigi snapped. He really didn't like the dark, and Mario usually used this weakness to his advantage.

"No," Mario said, his voice trembling a bit, but not enough for anyone to take notice "It was actually that pair of red eyes right there."

"I'm not going to fall for that one again," Luigi sighed, rolling his eyes, "Really, you know I'm smarter than that!" Luigi kept walking, his eyes closed, and laughed. I'm not that much of a wimp!

He forced his eyes open when he heard Daisy gasp and give him a poke in the ribs, "What is i-" and stopped mid-sentence when he saw two glowing red eyes a foot from his face, which were attached to a glowing white sphere. Immediately, he knew what it was.

A Boo.

The Boo's long tongue rolled out of its fanged mouth, and the ghost let out a shrill laugh, "Hwaharar! BOO!" It shrieked, waving its fin-like arms at Luigi.

He didn't move.

"Come on, you idiot! Run!" the Boo screamed, "I'm a ghost! I am terrifying, I am your worst nightmare!"

Luigi still didn't move a muscle. He had dealt with ghosts, he was no longer afraid of them, and at the very least, was merely annoyed at its presence. Now all he needed was to overcome his other fears. but he sure as hell wasn't going into mansions full of them, no matter how beneficial to his health it might turn out to be.

He stared the ghost in the eye, "Are you finished?"

The Boo's gaze moved from Luigi to the three humans cowering behind him, and back to Luigi again. Oh! Was this the same man who had sucked up all his friends in that cursed vacuum? Oh no, if I annoy him, I'll get the same! the Boo thought, panicking. He didn't really find being crammed inside a cleaning device a very favorable situation.

"Yeah, I think so," Boo answered, suddenly afraid.

"Get us out of here, now."

Was he serious? Boo searched his face for an answer. He was serious.

Wait! Didn't Lady Bow want him? She had never specified why, but she had expressed her desire to have the younger brother brought for him. Revenge, perhaps, for all the boos he had captured? Either way, Boo was sure he'd be rewarded for his capture.

"Oh, yes..." Boo said, and motioned for the foursome to follow him, "This way to get to Bo- er, I mean out. To get out, yes…" The group followed Boo, somewhat reluctantly, into the dark forest that lay ahead.

"I don't think it's a great idea to trust a Boo to get us out..." Peach whispered, making sure that the leading specter didn't hear her.

"You have a better idea? It sure beats wandering around here for the rest of our lives," Daisy hissed.

"That's true..."

"Where is he leading us anyway?" Mario said quietly, "I mean, it seems darker than it was before, how do we know he isn't just leading us deeper in?"

"I trust the nasty thing, even if he is a Boo. I mean, they think going against my wishes would probably land them a spot in a vacuum cleaner," came Luigi's hushed voice from up ahead, "I guess we'll see soon enough."

After nearly an hour of trekking through the pitch black forest, Boo stopped abruptly.

"Okay, you guys stay here, I'm going to go make sure it's safe down there, and I'll come back for you," he said, "Don't go anywhere until I come back!"

They nodded, and Boo floated off to 'make sure it was safe' which really meant 'go get Lady Bow and my reward.' After a minute or two, the huge mansion came into view, and what would have been Boo's heart raced with anticipation. He floated through the huge front doors, and entered the lobby. The massive residence was overflowing with boos, and had the same creepy atmosphere that most haunted houses had, along with traps and tricks, trademarks of the boos.

"I've got him! The green one!" Boo screeched, making all the boos in the lobby swirl around to look at the boo by the doors, raving like a lunatic, "He's a little way down the path, with a couple of princesses and the red one too!"

Boo's heart leapt when he saw Bow float down from the top floor. She stopped in front of him, with a questioning look on her face.

"So, you have him?"

"Yes, My Lady!" Boo said, nodding, "down the path."

"Show me."

"He sure is taking a long time..." Princess Peach said nervously.

"Okay, I agree with you on that one," Daisy said, sighing, "I bet he's just left us here to die, which is what's going to happen eventually anyway."

"Don't say that!" Luigi snapped, getting slightly irritated, but was getting a little anxious himself.

"Ah, here we go!" Mario said, when he spotted a glowing sphere floating towards them. He gasped when it was followed by another, and another, until they were surrounded by the glowing spheres. A pale green one stood out amongst all the white, and is descended upon them.

"Are you Luigi Mario?" it asked, in a high, yet intimidating voice.

Luigi nodded, shaking a bit, "Yeah..."

"Follow me..." the sphere asked them, and started to hover in the opposite direction.

"Let's consider our options..." Luigi began, "On one hand, we can follow a mysterious glowing thing that we know nothing about, and apparently wants me for something. OR we can stay here and die."

"Follow the bloody thing!" Daisy yelled, shoving the group after the mysterious orb.

"Hey! Look at that!" Wario said, jabbing a fat thumb to his left, "It's them!"

"Who?" Waluigi asked, squinting to get a better view. All he saw were blobs of green, red, pink and yellow.

"You know who! I told ya ta get some glasses, bro!" the stout man said, kicking Waluigi in the shin.

"Damn it, who is it?" Waluigi scowled, hoping on one foot and still trying to make out what was in the darkness.

"Agh!" Wario grunted, throwing his hands up, "Mario, Luigi and those whiny princesses!"

"Ah yeah. I knew that."

"Let's get 'em!" Wario suggested, rolling up his sleeves, "And beat 'em so bad they'll be suckin' steak through a straw!"

Waluigi leapt forward, stopping Wario, "No, that's a bad idea, Lard Head. Look!"

He pointed a bony finger to the numerous white luminous spheres surrounding the foursome, "Boos. And lots of them. They'll do the job for us!" Wario frowned, "Ahh! We've gotta stop 'em!" he yelled, rushing out of the trees and towards them, who were seemingly being crept up on from behind.

"What? Why?"

"Can't let them have all the fun of beating the crap outta them!"

"Good point." said Waluigi, following Wario's lead.

The boos scattered when the duo came charging at them, yelling like strangled dinosaurs. Boos, despite being ghosts, were spooked by sudden and loud sounds. And Wario and Waluigi demonstrated the most sudden and loud sounds that could possibly be made by a human, and sent the ghosts away as fast as possible. The light shifted in strange patterns all around them as the glowing spheres scattered and disappeared from view, leaving the group in the heart of Forever Forest, the light fading fast.

"What do you think you're doing, you idiots?" Daisy said, standing in front of the others, hands on her hips.

"We saved your lives, morons!" Wario bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Princess Daisy, "And then bit our heads off for it! You're lucky I haven't pounded ya, ya little witch!"

Shocked, Daisy opened her mouth to yell again, but was stopped before she could even say anything.

"What do you mean saving us? The BOOS were saving us!" Peach snapped, pointing at Wario and Waluigi, "You scared them off! Now we have no hope of getting out of here!"

"They were?"

"I think so."

"Ah, I bet they weren't," Waluigi said, waving a hand submissively, "They wanted to eat you, I'll wager. Or capture you. Or something like that."

"Do you know the way out?" Mario asked, hoping that they could finally get out of the forest.

"Nope."

"Well, you're going to find it!" Daisy said determinedly, "You got us into this mess, and you're getting us out of it."

"Okay, cannons loaded?"

"Check!" came Morton's reply, as he stuffed the last bit of Junior's tail into the cannon.

"Get him out of there and get a cannon ball, you fool," Bowser said, glaring at his son.

"I seriously didn't know he was in there..." Morton muttered between snickering fits, and trotted off in search of some real ammunition.

Junior pulled his blackened body out of the cannon and scowled, "Why did we have to bring them along Daddy? They're nasty little turds!"

"Shut up."

Junior stuck his tongue out at his father, who had moved on to check the tank in the airship's hold. The plan was simple. They were to attack the Mushroom Kingdom, and secretly deploy the tank, with Bowser's eight children inside. They'd crash through the wall of the palace (a dramatic entrance is needed in such times of vileness, according to the Koopa King) and capture the princess. If they came across Mario, they had the option of teaming up and attacking him directly, or using the tank to blast him. Either way, they won.

"Okay, we're casting off!" came the booming voice of the King, "Ready yourselves, the Mushroom Kingdom's going down!" he laughed, and was backed up by the cheering of his children and his army, and the airship sailed off into the crimson skies, prepared for a war they couldn't possibly lose.