Mario didn't have much to go on. Just that the group was called 'LTM' and that their leader was known as 'L'. There were clearly goombas involved, so a good place to start would be Larry Koopa's castle in Grass Land. He was the weakest of the Koopalings so he would be the easiest one to extract information from. His name also started with an 'L', meaning there was a small chance he could be the ringleader, though Mario thought it was much more likely to be Ludwig von Koopa, if anything. Hopping in his kart, Mario drove from Luigi's house towards the direction of Grass Land.

Stopping at a gas station near the edge of the Mushroom Kingdom, he picked up a couple items that he needed: Mushrooms, some water and a copy of Mustaches Monthly. The magazine had long been a staple in Mario's life, guiding him on all the new mustache trends in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario normally had it delivered, but today he'd forgotten to bring his copy and he was keenly interested in finishing an article about 5 light weight mustache creams that still have a surprising amount of hold. As he left the shop, he saw an old friend pull up in his kart: DK. This part of the Mushroom Kingdom was near DK's Jungle, so it wasn't surprising to see him out here.

"DK, it's-a me, Mario!" the old ape turned quickly when Mario spoke, surprised to see him.

"Huuua!, Huuuua!" said DK, speaking in an ape dialect only comprehensible to characters in this universe. He probably said 'Hello, Mario!'.

"I'm-a on my way to Larry's castle, I think Bowser has a new minion. It's-a something bad."

"Huuua!, Huuuua!" said DK, once again speaking in his ape dialect. He said something like, 'There are strange things happening in the Jungle too. Apes have gone missing.'

"Really? That's-a not just a coincidence, I think. Do-a you know about LTM?" and DK frowned as Mario said that. He knew something.

"LTM, bad news" said DK, in english. Yes, he can do that too.

"What-a do you know? What-a does it stand for?"

"Me not know, just know it's bad. Kill apes." DK turned somber, seemingly lost in thoughts about his fallen brothers.

"Well it's-a me, Mario, and I will-a get to the bottom of this. Don't-a worry." and Mario gave the hairy giant a one arm hug. And with that, he was on the road again.

o-o-o

Grass Land actually had more than just grass, if you can believe that. It was probably one of the nicer places in the Koopa Kingdom, and one of the only places in the world where goombas and toads got along and lived side-by-side. Even during active war, Larry Koopa was so inept at ruling his land, most goombas didn't fight for him or even really care about whatever conflict Bowser wanted to throw them in. And toads for that matter weren't even in the Mushroom Kingdom, so they were never called to battle. It was generally a peaceful place, though elements of crime still permeated the local toad and goomba communities. Perhaps they would know something about LTM.

Mario's first stop was a goomba bar and strip joint called 'The Dancing Goomba', a seedy local establishment that catered to the bizarre and perverted tastes of goombas. If you've never seen a goomba strip club, then count yourself lucky because they were some of the worst, most disgusting places that existed in either kingdom. To put it mildly, goomba strippers were repulsive and generally hard to unsee. You may not think they wear clothes, but they do and it covers up some nasty stuff. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything Mario hadn't seen before and if LTM was anywhere, they'd be here.

Sitting down at the bar, he stuck out like a sore thumb among the mostly goomba patronage of the club. There were even a couple of toads getting their sick desires satiated, but Mario was taller than all of them. That was fine though, as LTM wasn't exactly subtle and they would probably come to him. He looked around for anything out of the ordinary, scanning the dim and dirty strip club until he saw a bunch of rough looking goombas off in the corner. They locked eyes. The goombas know I'm here now. Let's see what happens thought Mario.

"Hey there, big man." Mario whipped around to see a pinkish goomba in skimpy clothing. She had clearly been around the block a few times. Gross.

"Fuck-a off, I'm-a just here for a drink." He couldn't risk any kindness, the last thing he wanted was a loose goomba rubbing herself all over him.

"Whatever, fuck you too!" and with that she stormed off. Then, Mario realized he actually didn't have a drink yet, so he ordered one. Mushroom whiskey was his standard drink, and if you've never tried mushroom whiskey than you should know it's good, but somewhat worse than regular whiskey. But everyone here insists on putting mushrooms in things, so you're not going to get a whiskey without it. As he sipped his whiskey, Mario thought about the war going on in the North. Grass Land was peaceful, but if he tried to go to any of the other Koopa Kingdoms then he would meet serious opposition. What he needed was a group of highly skilled individuals, people that could go into difficult situations and do what would be impossible for others. What he needed was Captain Toad's Toad Brigade. The Toad Brigade was a specialized group of killers, adaptable to any combat scenario with thousands of hours of training and dozens of missions under their belt. If anyone could lead Mario into the rest of Koopa Kingdom, it would be them. Besides, Captain Toad saw Mario as a mentor, he would agree to do the mission in a heartbeat.

"The fuck're you doin' in my club, toad lover?" A very tough looking goomba sat next to him at the bar. This goomba was very different than most, he was big and muscular with 2 massive scars forming an 'X' below his left eye. Tattoos covered his body and face, though most of them were indecipherable cliches like hearts and knives and stuff.

"And-a who the fuck is asking?" said Mario, never one to back down from a goomba.

"Gomar Goomba. And I'll cut ya if you don't give me a very good reason fo' why you're here." That's when Mario saw the massive dagger floating where Gomar's left hand should have been. (Goombas are fucking weird)

"LTM. Are-a you a part of them?" Mario knew he could take the goomba if he had to.

"The fuck? I'm one of Bowser's minions, not one of those traitor LTMs!" Gomar seemed upset by Mario's insinuation.

"Then-a we, Mr. Gomar, have a lot to talk about." and Mario knew he had found someone with answers.

o-o-o

"LTM? They're just a buncha thugs. I don't know what it stands for, but I know they don't work for Bowser." Gomar was an unsightly goomba, one of Bowser's ugliest minions but he at least seemed to be telling the truth.

"And-a what about their leader L? Who is he?" Mario could feel he was getting close to the truth.

"He ain't Bowser, and he ain't Peach. As far as I know, he uses minions from both kingdoms but I couldn't tell ya for what purpose."

"He-a uses toads?!" Mario was stunned to hear this.

"Toads, goombas, koopas, shy guys, thwomps and hell, I think he even has some lumas on his payroll. Seems no one has escaped his influence."

"And-a where is he? Is he working with one of the Koopalings?"

"Working with 'em? He stole a ton of gold coins from Morton Koopa recently, now he and his minions have a price on their head in Desert Land. The other Koopalings hate him just as much. No, he's not working with them."

"Would-a Morton know anything else about LTM?" Mario didn't think it was a strong lead, but Grass Land didn't seem to have a large LTM presence and he needed more information.

"It's worth a shot. But if you're traveling into Koopa Kingdom, you'll probably need an escort. I can help ya… for a price." Gomar's face formed into a sinister grin as he said this, but he couldn't tell if there was anything malicious to it.

"I'm-a use my own team, the Toad Brig-"

"A buncha toads? And how well do ya think they know Desert Land? You'll die out there without my help." Gomar seemed to have a knack for bartering.

"Ok, and what-a is the price?" Mario humored the big goomba.

"Only 200 gold coins! And trust me, you'll need our help."

"Alright, but-a I'm gonna bring my own team too." Mario knew the Toad Brigade would have no problem taking care of some common criminals, so if the goombas tried anything they'd surely fail.

"Sure, just meet me back here after ya get your toads. I'm always here. But if ya wait more than a week, the price goes up." Mario nodded towards Gomar and left to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom. He wasn't sure if he really needed that shifty goomba, but Gomar seemed to dislike LTM just as much as Mario. Maybe that would be enough. He'd know soon enough.