Mario groaned in pain and opened his eyes. The sky was still blue, and the grass was still green. Good: He didn't die. He sat up and looked at the remains of the veranda. Then he remembered Goompa. He hopped to his feet. "Goom-pa!" He called.

"Ooh...oh, my aching back..." was the reply. Mario followed the sound of the voice to find Goompa sitting underneath a tree. Apparently, he had survived the fall, too. "Hm? Who's that? That you, Mario? So, you stepped out of the door to step out into thin air, eh?"

"Ya, what happened anyways?"

"When that tremor hit, the veranda fell, and I with it."

"Yeah. That was Kammy Koopa dropping a block on the gate…it looked like that one!" Mario said, pointing to a Yellow Block. Both walked up to it.

"Hmm…this block…this block shouldn't be here. Well, this is a problem for us."

"Hey, waitaminute…Goompapa said that we could break this down with your hammer!"

"My hammer? Oh, yes, of course! Um…where did it go?"

"Well, you were using it to fix the veranda, so it's most likely around here somewheres…"

"Unfortunately, it's nowhere to be seen…maybe it fell over there." Goompa said, pointing to a field. "Let's take a look." Mario and Goompa set off to the field, searching bushes for it. "It's a wooden mallet-like hammer."

"Like this one?" Mario asked when he found it.

"That's the one! Now you can destroy blocks and stuff by swinging the hammer!" Goompa said happily. "C'mon, let's go back to Goomba Village." Goompa said, heading in front of Mario. "YOUCH!" Goompa yelped in pain, rolling past Mario. A young Koopa Troopa who hadn't grown into his shell yet (The Shell he had was his egg shell) strolled up.

"Who're you guys!" He hissed. "This is MY playground, idiots! No one sets foot in here without my permission. And you clearly didn't have it."

"Goompa, who's this little doorknob?"

"This is Jr. Troopa. If I remember correctly, he leads the neighborhood gang. A bit of a bully, obviously."

"Shaddap, ol' man! Prepare to be crying at the feet of Master Jr. Troopa!"

Jr. Troopa

HP: 5

Max Attack: 2

Defense: 0

"He's more bark then bite. You can beat him easily." Goompa whispered. Mario charged up and smacked him with the hammer. "Oh, excellent! Good move! Go on!" Goompa cheered. Jr. Troopa came up and jumped square on Mario's head. It didn't hurt much, though. The battle raged on, 1 HP hit after another.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Jr. Troopa yelled. He charged towards Mario again, hitting him on the nose. Mario jumped on top of Jr. Troopa, cracking the top of his eggshell.

"Very good! You've almost got him! Go on!" Goompa cheered again.

"That's it! It's time for Jr. Troopa's master attack! FULL POWER!" He said, charging up and jumping. This attack hurt a little bit, but not much. Just knocked Mario off his feet. He got up quickly and delivered the finishing blow. "Ow…my aching shell…" 20 little sphere objects with rotating stars inside them rolled over towards Mario.

"What're these?"

"That was an excellent battle, Mario. You won Star Points! They'll add to your strength. Collect 100 to go up a level, and increase your HP, FP, or BP!"

"Shoot! I was so close, too! I'll be back, Mario!" He then charged off. He came back shortly. "I mean it, I'll be back!" Then he left again.

"That was stupid." Mario said.

"C'mon, let's back." Goompa said.

"Hold on…I see something in the tree there." Mario went up, and pounded the tree with all his might. A small doll that looked exactly like Princess Peach fell. Mario caught it before it touched ground.

"Well I'll be! That's the dolly Goombaria said she lost! She'll be no doubt overjoyed if you give it to her." Goompa said.

"Well, let's go back so I can give it to her, then." Mario said. They walked out of Jr. Troopa's playground, and Mario broke the block that was in their way. He hit the tree next to it, too. Down dropped a Mushroom, Mario's absolute favorite food that didn't need to be prepared, and it could restore 5 HP. He found a blue jump pad a little ways down, hopped on it and grabbed the four coins that were above him. He landed safely on the ledge, and grabbed a Fire Flower. "I'd better save this." He said to himself. He jumped down, and went further down the path.

"Mario, stay alert: I see bad Goombas ahead. They're loyal to Bowser. If you can Jump on them, or smack 'em with the Hammer, you'll get the First Strike, which is very helpful in battle." Goompa advised. Mario nodded and continued. A single Goomba marched up to Mario bravely and prepared to attack. Mario was smart and jumped on him before he got close. First Strike! He then jumped on him one more time and then the battle was over. Mario searched it and got 2 coins, another Mushroom and 2 Star Points. Mario laughed.

"That was too easy. Reminds me of my old school days back in Super Mario Bros.!"

"You trounced my father's cousin in that!" Goompa said in an unhappy manner.

"I did? So sorry!"

"Oh well. That was about 16 years ago anyway. Never liked him that much either. You did me a favor, to say the least."

"C'mon, lets keep going." As they continued down the sandy, beaten-down path, a Spiked Goomba popped out from behind a dead mushroom, and charged towards Mario! He swung the hammer with all his might, but missed the Spiked Goomba altogether. He took a second attempt and hit the Goomba on the head, and then was jumped for two points of damage. He hit it again with the hammer and collected 3 points, one coin and 2 hearts. He kept travelling, battling other Goombas (And three Paragoombas) and got a Star Piece and several coins. At last they made it back to the Goomba Village.

"Never fret, children. I'm back, thanks to young Mario here." Goompa called to Goombario and Goombaria. He unlocked the gate and entered.

"Whoa, Goompa! Where've you been? I looked outside and...wow! You and the veranda were just gone!" Goombario said in shock.

"Goompa, I was worried about you!" Goombaria said through tears. "Really worried!"

"Don't worry kids...I didn't mean to make you fret. I'm back, and that's what counts. Oh, Mario, I have something for you in the house. Give me a minute." Goompa said, then entered the house. Goombario, who was unable to do anything but break out into hysterics earlier, began talking with Mario, then noticed something.

"Hey, that dolly...that's the exact one Goombaria said she lost! How's about you give it back to her?"

"Yeah, I don't have much use for it anyway." Mario said, handing it to her.

"It's my dolly! Dolly! Dolly! I'm so glad you're all right!" Goombaria said, relieved. "Don't you ever get lost again!" She took something from her shoe and gave it to Mario. "It's something I found around the tree there. Look how it glitters in the sun!" It was a Star Piece. He polished it and put it in his pack. "Oh, and...take this, too." She hopped up and gave Mario a kiss on the cheek. Then the conversation resumed.

"Man, you must do some serious training in order to be in shape for the many battles you have on adventures." Goombario commented. "I do my training by the books written by the Masters and listening to Goompapa and Goompa talk. My headbonk attack is really coming along now."

"That's cool. I wish every Goomba was as nice as the ones in your family."

"Thanks Mario." Goombario said, smiling a smile that seemed almost too big for his face. At that moment, Goompa stepped out.

"I found it, Mario. I hope I didn't interupt anything." Goompa said.

"Nah, we were just rapping with Mario." Goombario said.

"Oh, 'rapping', huh? Sorry, I wanted to give Mario this." Goompa said, holding up a metallic blue badge shaped like a boot with two spikes on the sole. "This is the Power Jump badge. It takes up one BP and uses 2 FP."

"How can I tell when my BP is used up?" Mario asked.

"Simple: The badge won't fit on. You have 3 BP now, so you'll have room for one or two more badges." Goompa explained. "I was told you're going to save Princess Peach from Bowser's evil clutches. You've got quite the adventure ahead of you, which is why I gave you the badge. Oh, and the hammer, too. Keep it, it'll come in handy."

"Princess-rescuing, adventure...man, you're so lucky! I wanna be just like you when I grow up!" Said Goombario.

"Me too!" Added Goombaria. Goompa thought for a minute.

"Goombario, you are no longer a child and evil times are upon us..."

"So?"

"So I'm saying, maybe you should go with Mario. If it's all right with him, of course."

"I've got nothing against it. I like travelling with company." Mario said, shrugging.

"Really? Reallyreallyreallyreally for real?" Goombario said in hysterics. "All right! Mario, thank you! You won't regret this! I can headbonk enemies and give you stats with my Tattle ability, and give you information about whatever town we're in. Just ask me!"

"Now, I'm going to take a nap. That trip on the path was rough on this old Goomba." Goompa said with a yawn, and entered the house. Mario walked up to the block, and gave it a hard pound, breaking it.

"There we go! Problem solved. Go on and have an adventure, you two!" Mario equipped the badge and exited the village, and Goombario followed behind him. This was going to be the adventure of a lifetime.