CVGWJames
Not just Mario. Luigi's good too.
LiamTheYoshi
Not all Goombas have a good side. Most are loyal to Bowser.
mariobroultimate
For now, Mario doesn't know that Peach has potentially been kidnapped. But he'll find out soon enough.
MarioFan88
Actually, Mario's outfit is a palette swap from Super Smash Bros.; specifically, Melee. As for Luigi's outfit, it's a palette swap from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Nataly Guardado
How brave of you to protect your teacher's assistant! Great job!
…
Chapter 4: Professor Frankly
Mario, Luigi, and the girl Goomba stopped walking away from Lord Crump and his minions upon reaching the center of Rogueport.
"Wow, Misters! You…totally saved me! Thanks!" the girl Goomba thanked the Mario Bros.
"That's what we were meant to do, kid," Mario responded. "Count on me and my brother at any time."
"Great idea. My name's Goombella. I'm a student at the University of Goom back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Nice to meet you guys."
"Thank you. We're glad to meet you too," Luigi replied.
"So… Uh… Who are you, though?"
"Don't you recognize us?" Mario asked. "We're the world-famous Super Mario Bros. I'm Mario and this is my number-one brother Luigi."
"Yup. That's me," Luigi added in.
"Oh my God! I can't believe I met you here!" Goombella exclaimed. "I feel like I'm your biggest fan now!"
Mario and Luigi blushed at her compliment.
"Thank you, Goombella," Mario chuckled.
"You're welcome. Anyway, no offense, but it looks like you just rolled into town yourselves. Right?"
"We did. We took a ferry all the way from the Mushroom Kingdom to here," Luigi said. "How about you?"
"Me, I already hate it here! There are freaks and weirdos everywhere! It's disgusting!" Goombella replied with irritation. "I mean, I know the place is called Rogueport, so I should have expected it, but…" Goombella stopped to think of what else to say.
"Ugh! I'd never come to a place like this if there weren't some legendary treasure here."
"That's what we came here for," Mario said.
"Seriously? You're looking for the legendary treasure too?" Goombella gasped.
"You bet," Luigi answered. Just then, Goombella barely noticed the treasure map sticking out of Mario's overall pocket.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on a minute! What do we have here?"
"You mean this?" Mario took out the treasure map and showed it to Goombella.
"Is… Isn't that a treasure map?! You have to tell me where you got that!"
"Princess Peach sent that map to us in the mail yesterday, and-" Mario started to explain, but Goombella interrupted him.
"Princess Peach? What?"
"Great hoogly-boogly! If it isn't Master Mario!" a familiar voice called out from Mario's left.
"Toadsworth?" Mario wondered. He turned to see Toadsworth walk out of Rogueport's Inn toward him, Luigi, and Goombella.
"Oh! Master Luigi joined you too, didn't he?"
"I wanted to join Mario because he would've felt miserable without me," Luigi said.
"I see. So, bit of a coincidence, bumping into one another in this sort of place, hmm? Hoho! So tell me, Master Mario and Master Luigi: what in the world brings you to this wretched little burg?" Toadsworth asked.
"Yesterday, Princess Peach sent this treasure map to us…" Mario showed Toadsworth the treasure map. "…and it came along with a letter saying that she wanted to invite me and Luigi on a treasure hunt. She said for us to take the ferry to Rogueport and meet up with her at the harbor."
"Oh, very intriguing… Sounds like you two were in for a fun time."
"Princess Peach said to call her before we arrived at Rogueport, but I had to leave her a voicemail. Why wasn't she picking up?" Mario asked.
"I was just about to ask you where the princess was!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "We stopped in this town to acquire a spot of fuel for our ship, the SS Royalty. The princess asked me if she could walk around by herself, and I reluctantly said yes. By the time we were supposed to take off again, I expected the princess to meet me at the harbor, but she never came back!"
"What?! No wonder she didn't pick up!" Mario cried. "Maybe Bowser came along, kidnapped her, and broke her phone!"
"You know how headstrong she is, Master Mario… I just assumed she'd be back momentarily, but at this point, I fear we must embrace the possibility that she may never return. I've been at a loss as to what to do. I've been fraught with worry, I tell you!"
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore," Luigi reassured Toadsworth. "Me and Mario will find her ASAP, but that means the treasure hunt will be held off for now."
"I'm afraid so," Toadsworth agreed. "Surely, you'll find her! Surely! But I know my place, Master Mario and Master Luigi, and this is not it. I leave this task to you."
"All right-y. We'll do what we can," Mario responded.
"Thank you." Toadsworth let out a sigh. "I'm going to go back to the Inn over there and enjoy a spot of tea, perhaps."
"Say, while you're here, will you please take our suitcases to the Inn?" Luigi asked. "Me and Mario were gonna stay here for a few days anyway."
"At your service, Master Luigi!" Toadsworth took Mario and Luigi's suitcases. "I must say, though, the rest of this town is a bit...rough. Yes, rough, indeed..."
Toadsworth walked back to the Inn with Mario and Luigi's suitcases in his hands.
"So, that Toadsworth guy… Who is he really?" Goombella asked.
"He's Princess Peach's steward," Mario replied. "Toadsworth accompanies her everywhere she goes. He's basically a father figure to her, and he's been that way ever since her parents died many years ago."
"Oh, that's very sad. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Goombella," Luigi said. "The good news is Princess Peach has moved on from that tragedy."
"Didn't you say earlier that Princess Peach actually sent you the treasure map?"
"Yes, she did," Mario answered.
"Whoa. This is really intense. Well, where could she have gone, then? You think maybe she got sick of waiting and went to find the treasure on her own?" Goombella asked.
"Umm… I don't know…" Mario wondered out loud. He and Luigi stopped to think of what Peach did before she disappeared.
"Oh! I got it!" Goombella blurted out, having come up with an idea. "You guys come with me! My archeology class's professor is here researching that treasure. We'll show him your map! If we start looking for the treasure, then maybe we'll catch up to Princess Peach!"
"Not a bad idea," Mario beamed. "I like it."
"Great! First off, we got to go find my professor. His name is Socrates Frankly."
"Socrates… That name reminds me of this Greek philosopher from several centuries ago," Luigi remarked.
"Yeah. I remember taking that class in college too," Mario chimed in.
"Cool beans. Now, since I just got to town myself, I… Uh… I don't actually know where he lives. So keep an eye out, will you?" Goombella asked.
"Sure," Mario replied.
"Here's what Professor Frankly looks like."
Goombella took out a profile picture of Professor Frankly and gave it to Mario. He wore bluish-white glasses and had beige scalp hair and eyebrows.
"Thanks," Mario thanked Goombella before stowing the picture in his overalls pocket.
Without further ado, the Mario Bros and Goombella headed east to find Professor Frankly.
Just as the group entered the next area, a blue Bandit came rushing in the opposite direction toward them. Luckily, Mario managed to dodge the Bandit in time but was irritated that it almost bumped into him.
"HEY!" Mario yelled while turning to the fleeing Bandit. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, ASSHOLE!"
"You see what I mean?" Goombella asked. "I hate this town! Those people just love to rob whoever they come across! Steal their Coins, bribe them with fake gifts, whatever!"
The group resumed walking east, looking at the various buildings on the left; one of them had to be Professor Frankly's place. Goombella eyeballed the building right next to the archway leading to the next area.
"I have a feeling he's in there," Goombella pointed out.
"Why?" Mario asked.
"I don't know. Let's check it out first."
Goombella led the Mario Bros to the top left building and opened the door to let them in first. There, they saw Professor Frankly looking over some notes on his desk.
"I'll go greet him. You stay right here," Goombella whispered. She approached Professor Frankly to greet him. "Hi, Professor Frankly!"
"Whuzzah? Who's there? Who wants me?" Professor Frankly woozily asked; he had just snapped out of his reading trance. He turned to Goombella. "Ah, yes. You. Now, you… Uh…"
Professor Frankly tried to remember Goombella's name.
"I've seen your face before… Yeah… Wait a minute… Hold on… Umm… It's not Goombriel… Err… It's not Elizagoom…"
Mario and Luigi silently giggled at the names Professor Frankly came up with.
"What kind of names are those?" Mario asked.
"How would I know?" Luigi responded.
It took ten more seconds for Professor Frankly to finally remember Goombella's name.
"A-HAAA! I've got it! You're Goombella, aren't you?" Professor Frankly asked. "You were in my archaeology class last year, am I right?"
"Yes, sir! That's me! I'm Goombella, a junior at U Goom!" Goombella said with glee. "Gooo GOOMBAS!"
"Of course I remember you," Professor Frankly said. "Not to toot my horn, but I'm pretty good at remembering. You, though… You stick out in my mind because you were such an exceptional student."
"It's my straight A's, isn't it?"
"Absolutely! I still can't believe you aced the final exam!"
"Uh, sir? I hope you don't mind me introducing myself," Mario butted in. He and Luigi approached Professor Frankly.
"Sure. Who are you?"
"I'm Mario, and this is my brother Luigi."
"Hello there," Luigi greeted Professor Frankly, waving hello.
"They're those world-famous heroes, you know," Goombella remarked.
"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"
"The Super Mario Bros. Does that name ring a bell?"
"Oh! My apologies," Professor Frankly apologized. "I'm such a bookworm, I haven't a dang clue about what's 'hip' right now. In any case, what sort of errand brings you all the way to a place like this?"
"We were hoping you'd tell us about the legendary treasure said to be below Rogueport," Goombella said.
"Goombella said if anyone knew anything about the treasure, it'd be you," Mario added in.
"Of course I know about it," Professor Frankly stated. "The reason I came here was to study that very subject. But why do you tykes want to learn about the legendary treasure? You know that most say it's a little more than a fairy tale, no?"
"Come on, Professor! Archaeologists and historians have to search for truth in those fairy tales! I seriously believe the legendary treasure does exist, and I really want to find it!"
"Me too." "So do I," Mario and Luigi agreed, respectively.
"You make a good point, Goombella. In that case, I'll cooperate with you however I can. First of all, about the treasure, there are many mysteries surrounding it. Some say it's an infinitely vast treasure hoard, while others say it's actually a monster, while still others claim it's an empty chest. So many different theories."
"Obviously, it's impossible to divine the truth among them, but all agree on one point," Professor Frankly went on. "To find the treasure of yore, one must have the seven Crystal Stars and take them to the Thousand-Year Door!"