I knocked the door once more. No answer.

"Uh, what should we do...?" I said.

"I don't know, let's just go in."

I was about to open the door when it was answered. It was a Mushroom Citizen, he looked exactly like Toad, like they all do. He looked very scared, sweating, pacing back and forth, and was talking very quickly.

"Oh, it's you! Both of you! The Mario Bros, I heard of you. You saved Her Highness the first time the Turtle Tribe attacked! Yes, I know you. Toad told me you would be coming. Oh, this is so frightening! Thank for coming to our rescue! Oh, the King, the King! By the way, my name's Guy, Guy Fung."

Luigi and me stared at him, as he gasped for air.

"Uh, hello Guy," I said. "Now, could you tell us what happened?"

"Oh, it was horrible; this yucky little turtle dragon koopa thingy, terrible guy. Larry I think he was called. Well, him, and all sorts of other terrible beasts came barging in through the roof, they could have at least had the decency of knocking on the door like you did! Very polite you are. Anyway, they attacked the King all of his servants, oh by the way I'm his head servant, and they took the King's wand which he uses to rule the land, and he cast a spell and turned His Majesty into a dog!"

"A dog?" I said. At the very moment a Golden Retriever, who just so happened to be wearing a crown on his head, came rushing down a near-by flight of stairs, jumped on top of me (causing me to fall to the ground) and started to lick my face.

"That's His Majesty. King Ticlffa of Hartia. Though I've been calling him Rover for the past few weeks."

"Yeah, I figured," I said. "Now could go get him off me?"

"Down boy! Down Your Majesty, That's a good king. You're getting a dog biscuit tonight!" The King jumped off of me and went running to Guy. "Now anyway, where was I. Yes, that awful Koopaling turned King Ticlffa into a dog, and all the servants went fleeing out of the palace, but I stayed here. I have honor for my country, and I'm not about to stand by and see it destroyed. Toad came by about a week later, told me the servants were hiding with him on the countryside, and that you'd 2 would be coming. And so, here you are."

"That's very brave of you Mr. Fung," said Luigi. "Now, Toad told us that you could help us get on the airship so we could fight Larry. Can you?"

"Oh yes, of course. Now here's all you have to do. Stand outside and hold hands. I'll be in here casting the spell. I got all the stuff I'll need, potions, and magic dust and stuff. Got it all from the ruins of the Magic Shop. It's this great store down in Minoka City, that's the capital of Hartia. You've only got to see the country on your journey, which is quite beautiful, but you should see Minoka. Well, at least you should of seen it before it was destroyed. That darn monster! But you're going to make him pay for what he did! Now, all I have to do is mix a few this and that's, add the powder, say a words, your names, and the name of the location to go, and presto, you'll be on the airship! Try and get the magic wand from him after he's dead. I'll be able to feel his essence gone, and I'll just do a reversal spell send you right back here, and I can use the wand to destroy the ship, restore Hartia, and most important, bring Rover back to his old self! Now, go on outside!"

Luigi and me stepped outside, and immediately started laughing.

"What was the deal with that guy?" Luigi screamed.

"I know; he didn't even stop to catch his breath. Just yak yak yak!"

"Weird fellow."

"Let's just hope he does the spell right."

I grabbed onto Luigi's hand, and we both waited, giggling for a while. Than out of nowhere I blinked and we were on the ship.

"Whoa," I said.

We were standing on the deck of the ship. It was made out of brown lumber. I could see ahead that this boat was filled with guns aiming at us. Not that this was unfamiliar. We've gone past a lot of bullets, bombs, and torpedoes on our past adventures.

"Well, let's get going," said Luigi bravely.

There were three cannons shooting from the ground. We got past them, but we could hear what sounded like millions of others shooting further ahead. I kept wonder why these cannon balls hadn't hit the boat. There was a big pillar blocking our way in front of us, and cannons firing from above us.

"How is a person supposed to walk through this ship," Luigi said.

"I think the point is for us not to get past," I said.

"So where'd do you suppose Bowser's kid is?"

"I don't know. I didn't even know Bowser had kids, let alone 7."

"He must have a wife back in Koopa World."

"Well that would explain a lot, like why he never, um, you know, took advantage of Peach when he had her captive the first time. He seems the like pf creep who'd do something like that."

We climbed over the pillar, narrowly avoiding the bullets. I rolled along the floor and got past the rest of the overhead cannons. There was a cannon in front of us. We ducked below it, waited for one cannon to shoot, and than jumped over it. There was a block ahead of us. Luigi punched it, and a mushroom came out. He gobbled it up and turned into Super Luigi.

We kept going on, there was another pillar, we again jumped over it, but unfortunately we didn't see the cannon on the other side, and Luigi jumped right on it, and the cannon sent him flying off the side of the boat. I sighed, Luigi always managed to get himself killed at the worst possible time.

I kept going, I jumped over a few cannons, no hard job. Ahead there were a few stairs to climb up to get to the top deck. I got to the top, and it was the end of the boat. Ahead I saw nothing but clear blue sky. There was nothing but a pipe in the ground. There was nowhere left to go, and with my heart beating like a jackhammer, I went in.

I landed in what look like a cabin of the ship. It was dark and I could hardly see a thing. Suddenly a light appeared. It was coming from a certain magic wand. From out of the shadows, Larry Koopa came up hold the wand.

He looked a lot like his father, only smaller. His face was light beige, with snout with sharp teeth pointing out. He had a turtle shell on his back covered in spikes. His toes and fingers were lined with claws. His head was the main feature that set him apart from Bowser. He had spiky blue hair. He looked mean! But I wasn't going to let him know that.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Larry, I presume," trying to sound as cool as I could.

"That's the name, don't ware it out. Good work on getting past my tricks, I'll prefer killing you myself. Though my brothers and sister won't be too happy, daddy sure will be proud."

"Is this why you're doing all this? For attention from daddy?"

"No Mario, it's not. I'm doing this for pay back. You left my father to die in that lava pool. Do you how hurt he was. How much strength it took for him just to get back home. How many years it took for him to recover! How many tears my mother shed for him, staying by his bedside for his aide, all the time talking about you and your brother! All we wanted was to leave that hell of a dimension that we called home!"

"Well Bowser didn't have to do this! Did he ever ask the people of the Mushroom Kingdom if they could live with them? No! He came in here, took over, and wanted to rule over the people that land belonged to!"

"HE HAD TO! He knew those Mushroom people thought he was evil! This was the only way!"

"Oh, is that true? Or is that just what he told you to justify his actions. There's the reason they thought he was evil, because he is! I know those people, they friendly folk, and they would of happily of let you live amongst them. I don't know whether or not there's a God, but if there is, I think he put you all the other koopas in there for a reason!"

"RRRRRRRR!" he screamed. He looked furious, ready to rip me apart at any second. "NOBODY INSULTS ME OR MY FAMILY! YOU ARE DEAD!"

He screamed once more and pointed the wand at me. A spark came flying out of it towards me. I dodged it.

"You think your father's a saint, huh? Than why is he holding Princess Toadstool hostage?"

"SHE'S A !"

"Don't say that about! She's a good person, not like you!"

Following Toad's instructions, I jumped in the air, and kicked him in the head. His head, arms, and legs went inside his shell, and it went spinning towards me. I jumped over it. He came back out a second later.

"Ouch, that hurt," he said sarcastically. He aimed the wand again, I dodged it, but he came charging towards me, scratched me, and I was dead.

I woke up at the castle. Luigi and Guy were there, and Rover was licking at my face.

"Oh no, oh no! He beat, you didn't! Hurry; hurry! Get outside so I can recast the spell!"

"Wait, hold on Mr. Fung. Tell me what happened Mario." I told him the story. He couldn't believe what Larry had said. "C'mon, the both of us can take him no problem."

We went outside, Guy cast the spell, and we were back on the boat. We got through it with no problem, and went down to meet Larry again.

"Hey, what's the matter? Couldn't take me alone, had to bring your brother," he said.

"I can't believe you'd call such a wonderful woman like Peach a ," Luigi said.

"And I can't believe you'd go out in public with that face," he answered.

"OOOOHHH!" Luigi said, "What's next, going to tell a joke about my mama?

"Yeah, well I think you'd deserve that considering you tried to kill my father!"

"C'mon Mario, I can't stand to look at him for one more second."

"Took the words right of my mouth," said Larry.

He didn't even have a chance to shoot his wand. Luigi and me had planned this out. I ran up to him faking an attacking, while Luigi went behind him and jumped on him. His shell went flying to the other side of the room.

"Oh, got me once. Come and try to get me again."

So we did. Larry ran up and clawed Luigi. Luckily he had eaten a mushroom before coming up, and just turned small. This time I came up behind him and jumped on him.

"So, you got lucky and got me twice. But you ain't going to get me a third time."

"Want to bet?" I said.

He came charging towards me. He sent me flying into the corner of the room. I couldn't get up. He aimed his wand and was about to aim the wand at me, when Luigi came up behind Larry, and knocked the wand out of his hand. Larry turned around and bit Luigi in the neck killing him, but he saved me. I only had one life left; he had 2.

"Thanks Luigi," I said. I got up, and before Larry knew it, I jumped on him. He disappeared. I had killed him.

The wand was lying on the ground. I went over to pick it up. I bright light shot out of it, and the floor beneath me was gone. The boat had disappeared, and I was falling. I fell and fell, and somehow, I fell through the roof of the castle without breaking it. I landed with a thud on the ground.

"Yes! You beat him Mario!" said Luigi.

"Yeah. And thanks for helping me out back there. But what happened to the boat?"

"OH MARIO! MARIO MARIO MARIO!" cried out Guy. "You saved us. You defeated Larry. Luigi has already told me his part of the story, and thank you too Luigi! You saved Hartia! As soon as you touched the wand everything Larry had done with that wand was reversed! You are Hartia's champions!"

"Now if you don't mind, could I have my wand back?" the voice came from a man who just came in the room. I knew who it was just by the crown on his head. It was King Ticlffa, turned back from a dog. "Thank you Mario Brothers. You are truly 10 times greater than the stories told about you. You saved my land, and me and for this I can never pay you back. I'll be careful to make sure nothing like this ever happens again." Guy was jumping up and down cheering. "My, he can get annoying sometimes." All 3 of us started laughing. "Now Mario and Luigi, I have a friend here who wants to see you."
Toad walked in.

"Hello there boys. I teleported here as soon as the spell on Hartia had been lifted. I knew you could stop the koopaling. But don't let this one success distract you from your goal. You still have much land to travel before you can get the Princess. I'm warning you that they will get harder and harder, but I have faith in you."

"Thanks Toad," said Luigi.

"Now I have a gift for you. But I think Mario will enjoy it more. It's a letter from Peach."

"What, how could you have a letter from Peach," I asked.

"She connected with me telepathically. I'm sure she would of talked directly to you, but she's very weak, and it was easier because we already share a strong physic bond. I wrote down exactly what she said as she said it, so I wouldn't forget. She was only able to get to me after Larry's spell was undone, she too could feel his essence gone. She told a few things only to you, but she told me exactly what to tell you. Enjoy."

He handed me the letter. I read it aloud for everyone to hear:

Greetings,

If you see any ghosts, be careful.
They will give chase if you turn away.
I have enclosed a jewel that helps protect you.

Princess Toadstool.

PS- I love you Mario.

I didn't read the PS out loud. Pinned to the sheet was a pin in the shape of a wing with the letter P on it.

"What, that was it?" said Luigi.

"What are talking," I said. "You know she couldn't say much, and she just wanted to help us." Toad looked at me. He understood why I didn't want to read the end. "What is this thing Toad?"

"That is called a P-Wing," he said. "Peach used up all her strength just to make with her mind and send it to me. It has magical abilities. It is like the Super Leaf that turns you into a raccoon; only this will enable you to keep flying forever. Just pin it on your shirt and you'll turn into a raccoon."

And so we spent the rest of that day in the castle, all the servants and people who were in hiding came back to Hartia, and there was a huge party in the streets of Minoka City, or so I heard, I didn't go. Luigi, Toad, Guy, Ticlffa, and me enjoyed a small celebration. Luigi and me must of made pigs out of ourselves eating, it's just that we didn't have anything so good to eat in a long while.

Toad told us he'd send us to the next country tomorrow. I showed Toad this diary. Somehow I felt more comfortable showing it to him than Luigi. He thought it was great, and maybe someday they could have it published. I didn't know about it.

For a long time I had been living in fear. Today my fear was gone for a while. Luigi and me spent the night in great comfy beds, which was so much better than sleeping on the ground. We enjoyed this while it lasted…