Part I: A New Beginning

Chapter I: The Visitors

Author's notes: Hello everyone. Before you begin reading, I would like to note that:

This story takes place a few decades after the Mario Bros. games. What has happened between then and now will be explained as the story progresses.

The main story, with the ship and the adventure, etc. won't begin for a few chapters. For now I just want to develop characters and storylines that will come eventually and explain what has happened in the past few years in the Mushroom Kingdom.

As usual, I don't own the Mario Bros. Koopas, Yoshis, etc. However, many of the characters in this story are of my own creation.

Please R&R! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy.

Mario was slumped over in his chair, quietly observing the twinkling stars outside of his newly constructed house just outside the borders of the Mushroom Kingdom. The new spring air was quietly blowing through his window, causing his red M hat to fall off of the nearby hook. He got up to go and close the window and noticed a few of the bushes rustle on the other side of the pathway outside of his house. A second later he saw what appeared to be a shell-like creature fall from the top of the trees near those same bushes. He closed the window finally and sat back down, placing his red cap upon his head. Mario took out a couple of torches, suspecting that the ambush that had been planned for him tonight was finally coming into play. Just as he began to light one torch, he heard a subtle yet audible crack of a twig from behind his house. He got off of his chair again and chose to crouch down, knowing that there was something out there sneaking up on him. He crawled across his wooden floor, careful not to cause any creaking, which was hard. The window at the back of his house was closed, but not locked, so he suspected that the intruder, or intruders as was the more likely case, might try to get in through there.

Mario stopped silent for a second as he heard something scratching on top of his roof. He knew then that there were multiple people outside. Mario decided to hide under his table near to the right of his main hallway, which gave him a view of nearly all of the windows and doors in his house, yet also provided a good hiding place. That moment his front doorknob slowly began to turn and the door was slowly and carefully swung open. Nothing came in immediately, but after about ten seconds a large yellow hand showed itself into the room.

Mario carefully controlled a ball of fire in his hand, and after it built up shot it directly at the yellow hand. As the person that Mario had hit fell back in pain, the back window opened and another figure jumped into his house. Mario had only a second to build up and shoot another fireball at the figure. Luckily for him, it was enough to knock the figure down, and he remained there. Mario decided that it was the best idea, now that the door was open, to leave his house and hide out in the woods where he wouldn't draw as much attention to himself. Just as he got outside, another dark figure, possibly the one who had attempted to enter his front door a few seconds ago, jumped out at him. Mario managed to punch him in the stomach, and when the figure fell down, he ran into the brush. He stopped shortly after he entered the bushes and glanced back at his small red house.

He couldn't see anything moving. The figure that he had punched was still lying down, and his front door was still open. There was nothing as far as he could tell on top of his roof. He looked up to the sky to see the moon of Plit shining quite faintly behind a mass of clouds. He began to run across the dirt pathway and made his way relatively deep into the woods and hid himself behind a large oak tree.

Mario looked up to the tree to check if anyone was up there. Nothing, he thought.

"Is it really possible that they might be planning an ambush for me out here?" Mario quietly whispered to himself.

At that very moment someone had put a knife right to Mario's throat, and two other figures came out of the bushes. Mario knew that there was no way out.

"Don't move Mario. You will hereby surrender to us." The voice sounded all too familiar to him.

"I guess I have little choice," Mario responded.

"Very little," the voice replied.

"Then I surrender," Mario said at last. "It appears that I have been defeated."

With that the figure took away his knife and placed it down on the ground.

"Well it's about time," Mario commented. "If you had kept that knife at my throat any longer I might've thought you were actually a Koopa."

"I'm just happy we were finally able to defeat you, on our last training simulation before our mission next month." His younger brother Luigi finally stepped out into the moonlight that had now appeared from under the clouds.

"I like the costume," Mario said, noticing his brother's Koopa shell and yellow hands.

I'm glad there was enough padding this time," Luigi replied, showing his fake Koopa hand that had been singed by Mario's fireball.

"Yeah, that last time wasn't so nice to you. I assume that the other guy I fired at is okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," said a medium sized Mushroomer who was coming into the forest.

"I liked how you fell back like that, it seemed quite realistic," Mario said to the Mushroomer.

"I'm just doing my job, as the old saying goes…" the Mushroomer replied. "Luckily for me this suit is as thick as ever. I noticed that that you were leaving the house by the way. I figured that Gyfun, who was on the roof, might be able to get you, but deep down I knew that Luigi would capture you in the end."

"I guess my old age has finally gotten to me," Mario said, showing a very small tone of disappointment.

"Old age!" Luigi yelled suddenly. "My dear brother, has that Goomba ale gotten to you? You seem just as energetic and cunning as you were when we defeated Bowser all those years ago!"

"Hey, I wasn't being serious!" Mario said, not being entirely true. "Besides, this is only the second time you've beaten me out of how many times?"

Luigi looked somewhat off put, but then smiled. "Never mind," he said. The brothers and the three Mushrooms there had a good laugh at Luigi's comment. Shortly afterwards, the moon began to fall behind the clouds.

"Getting chilly out," said one of the Mushroomers there. "I think this is probably the latest we've ever gone."

"More than likely…" Luigi replied.

"Well, I'll give my report to Toad tomorrow morning. The Chancellor will likely send out reports to you sometime this week. I'm heading home, have a good night everyone!" The Mushroomer yelled back to them as he began to walkback tothe Mushroom Kingdom.

"Goodnight Gyfun!" Mario, Luigi and the other two Mushroomers yelled in unison.

"I think we're heading off too," the Mushroom that Mario had hit said, and with that, he and the other remaining Mushroomer headed off back towards the pathway that led to the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving only Mario and Luigi in the forest.

"It is getting cold, do you want to come in for a bite to eat?" Mario asked. "I could even make a pot of spaghetti for us." He chuckled to himself.

Luigi smiled at the idea. "I had better get back to my own house. You know how busy I've been these past few weeks, and its certainly not going to let up in the next month. Thanks anyway though."

"That's okay, I know that you need your sleep, heaven knows I do too. Better get on your way then."

"Sure, we'll talk tomorrow." Luigi then took off his Koopa costume completely. "Would you mind keeping this at your house tonight? I really don't wanna have to lug it all the way home. Wearing it at all isn't exactly my cup of tea."

"Sure, no problem. I'm not looking forward to having a Koopa in my house though." Luigi laughed slightly at the comment.

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good luck getting home!" Mario yelled to Luigi, who was now making his way out into the dense fog.

"Bye for now!" Luigi yelled, as he walked out along the pathway. Mario took the Koopa costume that Luigi had just handed him back to his house,but not before looking out at the horizon as his brother gradually disappeared down the long pathway towards the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario walked into his still open front door, and closed it to prevent any heat from escaping. The wind was still blowing in from the back window that the one Mushroom had forgotten to close. Mario closed it and locked it once again. He put back the two torches that he hadn't had the chance to use, and sat down again on his chair, taking out one of his favourite novels, and began reading. After about a minute he found he couldn't concentrate on the book.

"I really had a good feeling about tonight," he said to himself. "Maybe I'm really not the same person I was a couple of decades ago." He tried to put that out of his mind, and then laughed at the thought of an actual Koopa ambush occurring these days.

He got up to place the Koopa costume into one of his dressers, and looked at the model ship at the head of his bed.

"Just a month away," he commented, not sure if he was truly ready yet.