19

Mario and Luigi had no way of telling time, but they guessed that it was around nine o'clock. They were now walking through a thick forest and the sun was inching its way higher into the sky as the noon hours started approaching. None of Bowser's additional Koopa soldiers have been seen since they entered the cave during the early morning hours, but they were highly fatigued and famished. The brothers had to find food and some place to rest and fast.

"Luigi, I think I see a road up ahead!" Mario said, pointing down a small hill to a rather large clearing where there were no trees. "Let's go!"

Mario and Luigi ran down the hill and saw a dirt path in the clearing. When they reached the bottom of the hill, they saw a Toad person walking towards them from their left. The two brothers walked to over to him.

"Excuse me, sir!" Mario yelled. "Excuse me!"

"How may I help you two?" the Toad person asked.

"Do you know where the nearest town is?" Luigi asked.

"Why, of course!" said the stranger. "I was just on my way their right now! Please, follow me!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Mario said.

"Well, I'm glad I could be of service to you two." said the Toad person. "By the way, my name's Thomas."

"I'm Mario and this is my brother Luigi." Mario said.

"Wait." Thomas said. "Are you the Mario and Luigi that recently went missing?"

"Yes." Luigi said.

"The whole kingdom is worried sick about you guys!" Thomas said. "What are you guys doing clear out here?!"

"We'll explain everything when we get into town; it's a rather long story." Luigi said. "By the way, what's the name of the town we're going into?"

"Petalburg." Thomas said. "You'll like it a lot. It's a very peaceful place. If you guys want, I can get you guys some breakfast. You two look like you've been through a lot."

"We have." Mario said. "We've been through too much."

The brothers followed Thomas down the dirt path and down a large hill where the town of Petalburg stood. It was a truly beautiful place. As they entered, Mario and Luigi looked around and saw that there flowers on almost every green lawn. The houses were very well-furnished and in great shape, unlike the houses they had seen in Rogueport the day before. All of the Koopas that they encountered walking down the street were very friendly to the two brothers. Mario and Luigi also saw little Koopa children playing games on driveways and on the sidewalk, games that they had once played as children when their lives were not being ruined by outside forces. The thought of it made them sad.

Thomas and the brothers rounded a neighborhood corner and walked towards the central part of town where most of the restaurants were located. They entered a nearby breakfast bar and sat down at one of the booths. It was a relief for the two brothers to sit down in a chair.

"You have no idea how good it feels to sit down after being on the run for a couple of days!" Luigi said.

"What are you guys running from?" Thomas said. "You guys did say that you would explain your story, didn't you?"

"Let me start from the beginning." Mario said. "It all started the night of the king's funeral."

"Alright, I'm listening." Thomas said.

"Well, when Bowser attacked the castle, we took the princesses back to our house to keep them safe. But Bowser and his minions caught us and kidnapped the two princesses and even tried to kill us with a Bob-Omb while having us strapped to a couple of chairs."

"That explains why your house was demolished." Thomas said. "It said so in the paper yesterday. How did you guys get away?"

Mario went on to tell the rest of the story as a waiter took their orders and left to prepare their meals. He told Thomas about their adventure in Rogueport and the surprises they discovered there. He also told him about the prophecy and Bowser's evil plan to take over the world with the Seven Crystal Stars that were once used by the Shadow Queen almost a thousand years ago. He also told him about Mario and Luigi's ambitious plan to save the princesses from Bowser. However, Thomas seemed very skeptical about it.

"You guys must really have the guts to go after Bowser like that!" Thomas said. "I can't imagine anything more stupid and reckless!"

"That's what everyone else thinks." Luigi said. "But it's something that we must do! Our kingdom is at stake!"

"I realize that." Thomas said. "But everyone knows that anyone who tries going against Bowser will be killed instantly. Hence the reason I called your plan reckless."

"Well, someone has to do it." Mario said.

"How am I supposed to believe that you're really after the Crystal Stars in order to stop Bowser?" Thomas asked.

"Here." Luigi said, reaching into the rucksack and pulled out the diamond Crystal Star. Thomas was shocked.

"I…Is that one of the stars?!" he asked.

"It sure is!" Luigi said. "We found it in a cave deep underground."

"How did you guys know where to look?" Thomas asked.

"We have this book that Professor Frankly wrote." Mario said.

"Who's Professor Frankly?" Thomas asked.

"He teaches at the University of Goom in Rogueport." Mario said. "He has done extensive research on the locations of the stars based on historical documents that were buried underneath Rogueport in the old city. Unfortunately, Bowser supposedly got a hold of the documents and soon pinpointed each star's location himself. So now it's a race against time to retrieve them before he does. Even if he has one star, he could easily summon the power of the other stars as well."

"That's terrible!" Thomas said. "Have you already run into a few of Bowser's Koopa Troopas?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Luigi said. "We also ran into Lord Crump, who is the leader of the X-Nauts and is also working under Bowser. Luckily, we were able to escape just in time to lose them."

"How were you able to manage that?" Thomas asked.

"We used a few fire flowers to knock them out." Mario said. "They had no chance of avoiding them."

"That's amazing." Thomas said. "May I see that book?"

"Sure!" Mario said. "Turn to the page with the map."

Thomas turned the page and saw the map and was dumbfounded.

"So you have to travel across these large distances to get all of the stars?!" Thomas asked. "This is going to take forever!"

"We know that." Luigi said. "Do you know if there is another warp pipe around this area?"

"Unfortunately, the closest warp pipe is over a thousand miles away." Thomas said. "But there is another way."

"Really?" Mario asked. "What's that?"

"There's a cargo train that regularly passes through Petalburg during the noon hours every other day. My suggestion is to hitch a ride in one of the open cars into the desert."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Luigi said. "Considering the fact that one of the six remaining stars is located somewhere in Sarasaland!"

"You're right, Luigi." Mario said, examining the book. "It's also the closest destination to reach from here. Is the train supposed to pass through town today by any chance?"

"Yes." Thomas said. "I believe it's supposed to pass through in about an hour."

"We still have time then." Luigi said.

"My only worry is that it may not take you where you guys need to go. Honestly, I'm not too keen when it comes to train routes, but I'm pretty sure that these trains make their way into Sarasaland. My only advice is to not get caught by border security, because the Sarasalandians are very strict when it comes to their homeland security."

"Thanks for the advice." Mario said. "We're going to need as much help as we can get!"

"Here comes our food." Luigi said. "Man, am I starving!"

Mario and Luigi each ordered a super-sized portion of biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Thomas ordered a large egg omelet. After they finished their breakfast, Thomas led the brothers to the train tracks and waited for the cargo train to arrive.

"There! I see it!" Thomas said. "Hurry and jump into one of the train cars!"

"Will do!" Mario shouted as him and Luigi approached the tracks with caution. The two brothers spotted an open car and quickly jumped inside as the train continued rolling along the tracks. Looking back, they saw Thomas waving at them.

"Good luck on your journey!" he shouted.

"Thank you!" Luigi said. "Oh, and thank you for breakfast too!"

"It was my pleasure!" Thomas shouted back. "Be safe!"

Pretty soon, contact was lost altogether as the train got too far away. Mario and Luigi were now leaving the city of Petalburg, wishing that they could have stayed longer. But they had no time to waste whatsoever. Mario and Luigi sat down and looked out the doorway at the green scenery and enjoyed the cool wind.

"Well, Luigi." Mario said. "Tomorrow, all of that green scenery will be gold and the mountains will be replaced by sand dunes."

"It's so dirty in here." Luigi said. "I can't wait to sleep in real bed again."

"I know, bro." Mario said. "I know how you feel."

The brothers remained quiet for a little while, and then found themselves falling asleep as the train took them to the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Sarasaland here we come! Luigi thought. Daisy's birthplace…