Chapter 3: The Missing Mario Brother

Author Note: Mario and Luigi's last name is Mario.

-There will be a reference to the game called Mario Is Missing!

It's been a sad day for the people living in Toad Town ever since the party was disrupted. Bowser most likely had a hand in the disappearance of Peach, Mario, and many citizens of the kingdom. What made it worse was that the royal castle was probably being used as a prison seeing as it floated off into the clouds far above what the normal eye can see. The people were in a panic at this new situation, and most of the locals holed themselves up in their homes for their safety. It wasn't uncommon for towns to be attacked by Bowser's minions so that they can keep control over a territory, and the Toad people knew that far too well.

The citizens were used to the princess being kidnapped every so often, but the red clad plumber was always a short way from Toad Town if it ever happened. With Mario missing in action it caused far more stress than there would have been if he were still here. They didn't know what happened to the people who were kidnapped, and there wasn't any further news concerning the incident that happened yesterday. No one seemed to know anything about how or why the castle was uprooted other than to catch the princess once again. The people were mostly shocked that Bowser's plan involved other innocent people along with the princess with his latest scheme. If this detail is different, then what else could be in store for the citizens of the Mushroom kingdom?

-Back to Luigi's POV-

I woke up from my unsettling dream with a start and glanced around the room in a panicked state. The walls of my home greeted my vision and I let out a relieved sigh at the familiar sight. I sat up and looked down at my lap as the memories of what happened a day ago surged through me. Yesterday was a complete disaster with the castle taken hostage with many guests of the kingdom still inside. Mario didn't miraculously arrive at their house later in the day like I hoped he would. The princess is still kidnapped and morale is at an all time low in Toad Town. I clenched my fists at the thought that I couldn't do anything to help prevent the incident from occurring.

Once we escaped from the castle I told everyone to follow me. I didn't want anyone to stay close to the castle grounds in the case that objects could fall and severely injure people. We made it through the automatic doors without any problems and continued on. I stopped near the fountain that was closest to the main entrance of the town. The area was void of people aside from us. I looked at everyone that had made it out of the castle and noticed that no one had any major injuries.

"Hello everyone." My voice cut through the silence of the area like a knife. "I know what we went through was shocking. No one has literally hijacked an entire castle before, at least that I know of. However, we have made it out relatively unscathed. We were lucky to escape the castle in time, and I'm proud that we were able to make it out before the castle was too high for us to leave." Toadsworth, May, and the others smiled slightly at that statement.

"I'm going to be honest here." I cleared my throat before continuing. "We have little to no information regarding what just happened to us. Most of the signs point to Bowser being the mastermind behind this plan, but we need to make sure that this is the case. We need more info, and the only way to do that is to keep our eyes and ears open."

"If Bowser is the enemy again then we need to stay safe on our travels. Travel in groups of three or more to stay safe. He's already taken hostages and we don't want to add more to that list." Most of the people nodded in agreement while gaining determined expressions on their faces. Toadsworth spoke up once I finished my speech.

"Those of you that have traveled to come here, I am deeply sorry. This was never meant to happen, and I regret that your stay here was filled with danger. I implore that you stay at our Toad House so that you all can recover from this terrible ordeal. It will be a safe place to rest at for the rest of your stay here." Multiple people nodded in agreement at that since it was the most logical thing to do for right now. "As for the rest of you, I hope that you take precautions and get home safely. If any rubble from the castle has blocked the roads to your homes, then know that you can stay in the Toad House as well."

The majority of the citizens left to check into the Toad House or attempt to get back home, while May and Toadsworth stayed with me next to the fountain. I sat heavily down onto the ledge of the fountain and let out a sigh of frustration. "It'll be tough Luigi, but we can get through this. It isn't the first time that a crisis has endangered our kingdom." I looked up at Toadsworth before looking down at my feet once more.

"This isn't the same though… Mario has only ever been caught up in a kidnapping one other time, and that was a nightmare." "So much fucking traveling was done across our home world… It was tedious, didn't make much sense, and had so many Peach lookalikes that it was disturbing." I looked up to see May looking at me in confusion while Toadsworth had a look of understanding on his face. "I don't know if Mario is battling Bowser as we speak, or if he's currently a prisoner that's being held in a dungeon. It's the lack of information that's frustrating."

The two others nodded at my statement as we stayed there in silence. After a while May decided to rest in the Toad House with the other tourists, and bid us farewell. He made sure to tell me to keep in touch with him before he left. With May gone I told Toadsworth that he could stay with me at my house. "It will be better for you to stay there in case any enemies swarm the town. The entrance to our warp pipe is fairly unknown to any outsiders, so it would be the safest place for you right now." Toadsworth agreed to that so we headed towards my house at a slow pace.

That brings us back to now. I let Toadsworth sleep in my bottom bunk since it would be easier for him, and I took Mario's for the night. It was easier than making up our guest room yesterday as we were too exhausted from our fruitless search for information. I climbed down the ladder before going to the restroom. After my shower I went outside to grab the daily newspaper, and flipped it open once I was seated at the kitchen table. The first article contained information regarding yesterday's kidnapping. A picture of a gaping hole in the ground was the most prominent feature on the page.

'There is breaking news for today! Princess Peach Toadstool was once again kidnapped in the middle of the day yesterday. From what our witnesses have told us, the castle was literally lifted into the sky by another larger castle that was underneath the ground! Even worse is that there were dozens of innocent bystanders that were inside the castle as the princess was hosting a party at the time of the kidnapping. Both of the Mario brothers attended this event, and it's sad to say that while Luigi Mario escaped the castle, his brother Mario Mario is currently missing in action. As of now nobody knows how we're going to find the missing castle that contains our fair ruler and our hero. We'll update our readers on the latest news regarding this touchy subject as soon as possible.'

The next article talked about the damage to Toad Town and featured comments from the locals that spoke of the incident. 'The incident appeared to happen in a very short time. Hardly a minute passed before the castle was floating far away from its place in the ground. The ground that surrounded the castle has been ripped out and thrown about the area. Rocks and large amounts of dirt are scattered about and there is a large hole where the castle used to sit. Luckily the route to Shooting Star Summit was left untouched so visitors can safely travel to and from it with ease. Other places weren't so lucky. Large branches and mounds of dirt have fallen throughout Toad Town. Thankfully there weren't any injuries, but a few large branches have blocked off the route to the south side of town. Unfortunately it could be a while before the area is clear.

Statements were made further down in the article. 'One of the witnesses claimed to see a statue of the infamous Bowser on the side of the larger castle that lifted the royal castle into the sky. Another anonymous witness said that, "It happened so fast… One moment everything was fine, but then the ground began to shake… The next thing we knew the castle burst from the ground and flew off into the sky!"

I set the paper down after I flicked through the rest of the news and saw nothing relevant to my situation. I saw that Toadsworth was beginning to wake up from his sleep, so I began to prepare some pancakes for both of us. He slowly sat himself in a chair at the table after making a stop at the bathroom. I set down a cup of vanilla flavored cappuccino in front of him and laughed when he chugged it down right away. "He is definitely NOT a morning person then." I made another cup for both of us and smirked at his slow sips at the hot liquid. "He probably burned himself the last time." We finished off our lightly buttered pancakes and set off to the outside world.

Guest Review Answers:

-Angel: I'm glad that you are enjoying my story. I will continue to add chapters for it since I don't plan on quitting for any of mine.

-DarkShadow: As I said to Angel I will be updating new chapters for this story. However, I don't know how often I'll be getting around to it.