The illness had swept across Toad Town like a wave. Nearly all of the women who lived in the Mushroom Kingdom had been affected by the 'spore pneumonia' and were now fighting for their lives inside the busy hospital. The entire town was grim and eerily quiet.

Mario watched worriedly as Dr. Toadley used his stethoscope to listen to Princess Peach's breathing. She had begun wheezing and required oxygen to ease her breathing. Daisy was just as weak, but still able to breathe without any difficulty.

The sight of seeing someone he cared so deeply for in such a frail state was too much for Mario to bear. Politely he excused himself from the room and strolled down the corridor and through the waiting room as he futilely tried to collect his thoughts. Many of the family and friends that were gathered in the waiting room had fallen asleep in their chairs, while those who were still awake looked defeated.

Eager for Luigi's return the few remaining nurses had begun taking turns keeping lookout at the front door of the hospital.

"Any sign of Luigi?" Mario asked quietly as he and Nurse Fungi stood by the entrance doors, staring into the endless blizzard that howled outside.

"Not yet."

"C'mon bro..." Mario was becoming anxious. "You can do it!"

"And until he arrives we'll keep the whole town lit up as a beacon of hope."

Mario nodded. "Right now hope is all we have."

Braving the ever darkening forest with formidable determination, Luigi confidently marched through the blizzard with the satchel slung over his shoulder. As he trekked out of the BrookeHaven Village he could barely hear the muffled cries of support and cheer from the villagers who had heard about Luigi's perilous quest to retrieve the medicine.

The snowfall was absolutely relentless as Luigi struggled with the uphill climb. Thick white flakes stuck to his hat, his clothes and even his mustache as he journeyed into the forest and up the large hill that overlooked the Western trail leading into the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Almost there... Daisy." Luigi said out loud in a quivering voice as the bitter cold threatened to steal away his breath. He draped his arm over the satchel hanging at his side and patted the precious vials within anxiously. "Just... hold on! Please..."

Stumbling forward in the knee deep snow Luigi landed with an uncomfortable thud into the cold, damp ice riddled snow. Struggling to stand up and regain his balance he gazed upward at the remaining portion of the hill he still needed to climb. The setting sun cast an ominous shadow that crawled down the hill like a puddle of spilled ink.

"Can't stop." Luigi pushed himself up from the snow and stood awkwardly for a few moments. "Won't stop!"

Climbing higher and higher the hill transitioned from a steady slope to a steep incline laced with thick ice and unstable stones.

"I just... just have to make it over!" Luigi told himself as his hand found a grip on a large stone jutting outward from the hill. "Too close to give up..."

Forcing himself up the hazardous incline Luigi could no longer feel his hands of his feet, they were numb from the cold. His arms and legs began to shiver as the frigid air and ice soaked through his clothing. Weakly and slowly he pulled himself to the top of the hill, his heart pounding in his ears as the physical exhaustion began taking its toll on his taxed body.

As his trembling hand reach the top of the hill he felt the surface of the hill beneath his body begin to shift violently. Pulling his body up and onto the top of the hill with his fatigued arms Luigi laid on his chest on the snow and gazed through the swirling ice and flakes to the gentle glow of Toad Town just below the hill.

"Daisy..."

A loud 'crack' echoed through the forest as the hill began to shift and the snow rolled downward in a violent cascade of barrelling whiteness.

"What the-?!"

Before Luigi had a chance to react to the situation that was transpiring all around him, he felt himself sliding downward against his hill as the layer of ice that had formed at the top of the hill gave way beneath Luigi's weight. The ice had created a natural bridge that connected one side of the hill to the other, crossing over a deep gorge that lay between. The snow had disguised the gorge creating an illusion of a single solid plain.

Without a word Luigi fell down into the snowy gorge, becoming buried in thick snow and ice as he fell to the bottom out of sight.

...to be continued...