Mario and Peach were about to reach the stairs going down to the first floor when, all of a sudden, they were blinded by an incredibly bright light.

"What was that!" said Mario, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know," replied Peach as she blinked to attempt to regain her vision. "But we should see if Luigi's OK."

"Good idea…if we could see the door…"

Fortunately, after a while, the two were able to see again and headed downstairs to find Luigi with a punch bowl on his head.

"What happened to you?" exclaimed Peach.

"Let's just say, I would make a bad blind man." moaned Luigi underneath the bowl.

A Toad then ran in, banging into everything and everybody as he went.

"Princess! PRINCESS!" the Toad screamed as he rammed into a Yoshi.

"What's wrong?" asked the Princess.

"There was a strange bright light that blinded everyone. Some people think it came from Star Hill, near Shooting Star Summit!"

"Well, let's go see if that's true or not!" Peach said as she started to leave.

"NO! Princess, don't!" yelled Toadsworth as he hurried to Peach's side. "It's much too dangerous! This is obviously a plot by that fiendish Bowser! What if you get kidnapped! You must stay here! Please! I beg of you! Send Master Mario to handle the matter!" he pleaded.

"Fine, fine! You never let me do anything…" Peach grumbled. "Mario, will you handle this, please!"

"Sure, no prob!" said Mario, ready for another adventure!

"What about me?" asked Luigi.

"I'm sorry, Master Luigi, but I'm afraid to endanger anyone else. Please, let Master Mario take care of this." said Toadsworth.

No fair! thought Luigi. Mario gets to do everything! I'm sick of "holding the fort!" I want another real adventure! Especially nothing that involves a haunted mansion!

"Don't worry, Weege!" reassured Mario. "I'll be right back. Maybe next time, huh?"

Mario walked out of the castle and headed north to Star Hill and Shooting Star Summit.

A few minutes passed, and Toadsworth started yawning.

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Toadsworth. "My old age is certainly starting to catch up with me! I must be heading off, yes?" he said as he sleepily walked up the stairs.

Luigi looked to see that Toadsworth was out of sight, then walked over to the Princess.

"C'mon, let's go!" Luigi whispered.

"Go where?" asked Peach.

"Keep your voice down!" he whispered. "Go where? To Star Hill, of course! You wanted to go there, right?"

"Yes…" she said quietly. "But what about Toadsworth?"

"He went to take a nap, remember? Now, let's sneak out of here and help Mario!"

"OK!" she said.

The two tiptoed their way to the door. After they got out, they still walked fairly slowly and quietly. Once they started to see stars on the ground, they started to pick up speed. Before they knew it, they were at Star Hill.

Star Hill was aptly named, because there were stars everywhere. The ground sparkled, and every once in a while, a shooting star soared across the sky. This was the realm of Star Haven and the Star Spirits. Luigi had been here once before, with Mario and their baby selves from the past, when they were trying to find a way to defeat the Shroobs.

"This place is so beautiful…" Peach said as she looked around in amazement.

"Yeah," said Luigi. "Hopefully we don't run into any…"

It was then she heard a shriek from the Princess. He quickly turned around to find Peach tied up, gagged, and held up by two Goombas, who were dancing with glee.

"…Monsters."