Chapter Three: The Party
Tired and confused, Mario slowly opened his eyes, wondering where they were and how long he had been knocked out. The last thing he had remembered, Peach, Luigi, himself and the others had all fallen to their doom out of a plane that had exploded minutes after they had abandoned it.
Although Mario had many things on his mind, the one that seemed to keep coming back to him was "Who tried to shoot the plane down?" Mario's first thought would have been Bowser, but since he was on the plane, Mario thought it highly unlikely that it would have been him. But then again…
"Ugghhh", grunted a voice behind Mario, and when he turned around he realized that his brother Luigi was lying behind him, clearly in the same state of being as Mario was. He looked up and saw Mario staring at him. "Mario, where are we? Where is everyone else? Are you alright?
"Yeah, I'm fine", replied Mario, also concerned about where the others had gone to, and wondering if they had even made it to land." Let's get up and see if we can find the others. I'll help you get your parachute off."
So the two brothers started walking along the beach in search of their friends (and Bowser), hoping they were as safe as the two of them. They had been walking for what seemed like hours when they heard a voice not fifty feet in front of them.
"Mario, Mario!" A girl's voice was screaming, but it did not sound like Peach's. Toadette was running towards them with a worried look on her face. "I've been looking everywhere for somebody! You're the first people I've found! Have you seen the others?
Mario looked ahead of him, and could tell that for as long as he could see down this long beach, there was nobody there.
"Nope, we haven't found anybody either, Toadette. I wonder where we are…Hey! Maybe this is the island we were supposed to land on! We weren't that far from it when we were on the plane!
"Hmm…" Mario thought, thinking that if this was the island their plane was supposed to land on, then the others might already be safe and sound in the company of Warren Toadstool. "I think you might be right, Luigi. Maybe we should start searching the inner part of the island for any signs of inhabitance."
"Great, let's go!" shouted Toadette, clearly excited about the adventure the three of them were about to take.
So the three of them started their journey through the interior of the island, their first obstacle being the thick bundles of trees that almost seemed to serve as a wall around the entire shore of the island, looking to Mario as if they were impossible to get through.
"Well this should be interesting", said Luigi. He wasn't wrong. Mario, Luigi and Toadette struggled with getting through the thick layer of trees, and many bruises, scratches, and cuts later, they emerged to find another layer of trees to get through.
"Oh, come on!", shouted Toadette in anger, who was already the victim of several bloody scratches on her legs and head. "Well, come on you two, we might as well get this over with!"
They struggled for at least another hour when they finally came through the other side of the trees, and it was clear that this was without a doubt the home of a very rich and powerful person, undoubtedly Warren Toadstool.
"Mario, Mario! Thank goodness you guys are ok!", shouted a voice in front of him.
Before he knew what was happening, somebody flung their arms around Mario and began talking nonstop. "Mario, we thought that you hadn't made it to the island! The rest of us were found by Warren's servants, but they said that they had searched all over and couldn't find you three anywhere! They took us here and I've been waiting for hours for any signs of you, and here you finally are! I've got loads to tell"-
"-Ok Peach, I got it. So where are we? Is this where we're gonna be staying? Where is everybody else?"
"Well, this isn't going to be any ordinary vacation, Mario. Warren's only just told us what we're really all here for. He's brought us here for a competition!"
"A what? What kind of competition? I thought this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation?"
"Well, from what he told us, we'll be competing with 20 other competitors in challenges that involve strength, smarts, and bravery. He said there is going to be four teams that will compete in these challenges each week, and losing teams will have to vote a member off!"
"What! So we're not here on a vacation at all, are we!", Mario shouted in anger. "Most of us will be going home anyway, if we're voted off. Who are these other competitors anyway?"
"Oh, wait till you see…There's a party going on right now, you'll be able to meet them all. I've already seen most of them. There are some pretty interesting people"
"Ok, well we'll go get cleaned up and meet you there, ok?"
"Alright, but don't be too long, I'm sure Warren will want to meet you. The rooms are to the right, about fifty feet away.
So the three of them walked towards there rooms while Peach went into the party. Mario and Luigi spent only five minutes in the large, fancy rooms before they washed up and met Toadette in front of the party room, ready to enter.
"Alright, let's do this" said Mario. And he opened the door.
Mario spotted some familiar faces like Toad, Wario, and DK, but besides them, the room was full of knew faces. There was one person who resembled a pink ball with feet, and another that was bright yellow and had a strangely shaped tail. These must be the other competitors, Mario thought to himself.
"Mario, dear Mario, I am so glad that you and the others are alright" said a voice behind Mario. He turned around to see one of the biggest and fattest toads Mario had ever seen in his life. He wore bright purple robes and sparkling yellow shoes. He also had a king's crown on, and Mario could see the blonde hair that was creeping out of it, the same color as Warren's thick mustache.
"Hello, Mr. Toadstool, it's good to finally be here and be able to meet you." Mario replied kindly. He was looking around for Peach, but he couldn't find her anywhere.
""Well, when we heard your plane had crashed, I was so worried that you weren't going to be able to come here. But luckily you're all alright and are able to participate in the competition. Ah, you must be Luigi, and you Toadette! So nice to met you two, too! Have you met everyone? I guess not, I'll introduce you!
'Um, sure…" Mario replied half-heartedly. And so they began to meet the other competitors.
"Link, I would like you to meet Mario, Luigi, and Toadette" stated Warren. Link was a tall young man with blonde hair and a stern look on his face. He wore all green and was standing next to a beautiful woman in a pink dress with long, blonde hair.
"Nice to meet you, Mario. I'm Link, and this is Zelda. We're from the land of Hyrule." Mario did not even know Link, but he could already tell that he was going to be a very tough competitor. Now that Mario thought about it, he was very surprised at how interested he was in the competition.
"Hello Mario" said Zelda. "I am so delighted to finally be able to meet you. We have heard so many stories, many that are hard to believe. You must tell us of your travels.
"Er, yeah, definitely" replied Mario, wondering why Zelda was so interested in his stories, and also how she knew about them.
"Alright, well let's see who else I can introduce you to…" interrupted Warren. "Ahh! Fox McLoud and friends, I would like to introduce you to Mario of the Mushroom Kingdom, and his friends Luigi and Toadette.
"Oh, so this is the famous Mario we have all been hearing about. I'm Fox McLoud, and these are my partners, Falco, Krystal, Peppy, and Slippy. We're all looking forward to this competition aren't you?"
"I'm looking forward to beating everyone from the Mushroom Kingdom, if that's what you meant, Fox" stated Falco angrily.
"Oh Falco, why don't you just shut your mouth for once! Its so nice to finally meet you Mario! Peach has told us all about you, and it seems like you guys have been through a lot!
"Yeah, you could say that" interrupted Luigi. "It's nice to meet you Krystal, I'm Luigi, and I've been with Mario through all of his adventures. It will be fun to compete against all of you guys."
"Anyway, what do you guys know about this thing? What will we be doing?" asked Mario.
"Well from what we know so far, we're getting into teams tonight and tomorrow the challenges are going to start!" shouted Slippy with excitement. "I just can't wait!"
"Yeah, neither can we…" replied Luigi, still staring at Krystal with a bewildered look on his face."
"Master Mario" interrupted Warren once again. "And Fox McLoud, you must come with me at once for a very important matter. Please, this way."
Mario looked at Fox strangely, but they both followed Warren into his office, wondering what was going to happen next.