Mario anxiously fiddled with his hat, which he held in his left hand, as he held his phone to his ear, listening to the tone that meant the phone on the other end was ringing. He was calling his brother, but a small part of him hoped he wouldn't answer. He was afraid of what his younger twin's reaction would be once he informed him of the situation.

His mind drifted a bit, so when Luigi finally did answer, it startled him. "Ciao." He heard him on the other end in his sickly voice.

"Heeeeeey, fratellino! How ya feelin'?" the older brother asked, nervousness clear in his tone. "Not any better than I felt this morning." the younger groaned. Mario opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"How's my pup doing? I hope he isn't mad at me for not being able to take him on his walk this time." Luigi chuckled, referring to Polterpup.

Mario had no idea how to answer. The thing was, Polterpup wasn't there at the moment. He was supposed to be, but he wasn't. Mario had turned his back for only a minute and the pooch had seemingly vanished, and searching was difficult with the large crown of toad citizens roaming about, going about their daily lives. That was what he wanted to tell Luigi, but he knew his brother loved that dog almost as much as him, and just the thought of Luigi being scared and upset about his beloved pet's disappearance, while sick no less, was painful. What made it more painful was that he'd surely blame him.

"Mario?" He almost didn't hear Luigi trying to get his attention. "You ok, bro?"

"Yeah." Mario answered instantly. He then took a deep breath, knowing he didn't have any other choice. "L-Listen, Weeg, there's something you need to know…a-about Polterpup."

"What is it?" Luigi asked. Mario could sense his worry. "Well…we went to that bakery that makes the really good muffins and I bought some, and then we were walking through a crowd and…I-I guess he got lost in there somewhere; I haven't been able to find him."

Luigi went silent. Mario, assuming the worst, let his anxiety get the best of him. "Look, Weeg, I-I'm real sorry! I promise I'm trying my best to—"

"Mamma mia, calmati, fratellone!" the red plumber heard, to his surprise. "It's no big deal."

"It—It's not?"

"Of course not, this has happened a few times with me."

"So you aren't mad at me?"

"Why would I be?"

Mario breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to hear that he was still on his little bro's good side. "Grazie. So, how do you suppose I find him?"

"I have a trick; works like a charm."

"Okie dokie, what is it?"

"Howl."

Mario was dumbfounded for a second. "What now?"

"Howl, bro. He'll howl back, and—"

"Imma not gonna howl in front of all these people!" Mario exclaimed.

"Well, I guess you can just spend more time and energy walking around then. You could use the exercise, to be honest."

Mario growled under his breath in annoyance. He could feel Luigi's smug grin and he hated it, despite knowing he was only teasing.

Really not wanting to do the latter option, he gave in. "So…" he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "…what about the howling?"

"Pup will howl back, and then he'll come running to ya." Luigi responded.

Mario turned his head towards the crowd and silently gulped. "I-If you insist…"

Without hanging up, the hero took a deep, slow breath, then inhaled again and let out the best howl he could muster.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Immediately, everyone turned to look at him in confusion, and they had every right to. That howl sounded like it came from a bird rather than a person trying to mimic a dog, and the voice crack that happened right around the middle of it didn't make it any less awkward. Mario began to sweat as he avoided eye contact with anybody and everybody, waiting to hear the howl in response from Polterpup.

And he did hear it.

Over the phone.

"Polterpup?!" he exclaimed in befuddlement, followed by Luigi erupting in laughter.

"H-How did he get back there?!" the older brother exclaimed again.

"I guess he was worried about me so he came home." Luigi responded.

"So I didn't even need to howl?"

"Guess not."

"You made me look like an idiot in front of everyone for no reason!"

"And boy, was it funny!" Luigi bust out laughing again, only for it to turn into a coughing fit.

"Ti odio così tanto in questo momento." Mario whispered. "I'm eating your muffins."

"Anch'io ti amo, fratellone." Luigi sarcastically whispered back before hanging up.

Italian Translations (hopefully accurate):

"Ciao." = "Hello."

"Fratellino" = "Little brother"

"Mamma mia, calmati, fratellone!" = "Mamma mia, calm down, big bro!"

"Grazie" = "Thank you"

"Ti odio così tanto in questo momento." = "I hate you so much right now."

"Anch'io ti amo, fratellone." = "I love you too, big bro."