I think this horribly long author's note was chasing people away so let's shorten this. This is my attempt at an "original" Paper Mario, or Luigi, rather, story, as the first two games in the series are two of my favorite games of all time. I hope that at least someone out there gets some enjoyment from this story, and reviews are of course super awesome and nice, but I'm not going to beg for them like so many people here seem to do. Constructive criticism is welcome, I'm always looking to improve my sub-par writing skills, and if you want to just yell at me and tell me to eat a reef, then that is fine too. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I forgot, do I still need to put one of these? I guess I will just to be safe. I don't own anything within this story other than the plot itself, I suppose, and MAYBE the partners and other "original" characters and crap, but then again, they're all Mario species and stuff, and it's not like I'll ever use any of them outside of this story anyways, so I don't think I'd own them regardless. So basically, I own nothing, Nintendo does, etcetera and so on.

"Is everyone here?

Alright then, gather around children, today I will be reading to you the story of the fabled Dream Casters, a tale that, as you will soon find out, is quite near and dear to my heart.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, as is so strangely common an occurrence, there are said to be a group of mysterious artifacts that, according to legend, are capable of fulfilling any and all of the dreams of the person or people who can gather them all together as one. They are known as the Dream Casters, seven star-like objects that were created long ago, though by whom or what force is unclear. Some people say they've been around for longer than civilization itself, while others claim they were created by an ancient wizard to stop a horrible calamity, while some even proclaim them to be ancient, powerful ancestors of the Star Spirits, who sealed away their own power to prevent them from being misused. While their origin has always been an enigmatic mystery, the one thing that most who know of and believe the legends agree on is that the power they wield is absolutely incredible, and whoever can lay claim to all of them will have all of their wildest dreams come true, no matter how farfetched or outlandish they may be, capable of altering peoples' minds and bending the very fabric of reality itself to do so. Even alone, they are capable of changing peoples' fortunes and granting them success that they wouldn't have otherwise. Unfortunately, as it so often occurs when it comes to such powerful objects, many people pursue them for selfish, evil reasons, and the Dream Casters were no exception to that rule. Though generally kept undisturbed from their resting places for many, many years, the Dream Casters would eventually become involved in a dark, sinister plot that would throw not only the Mushroom Kingdom, but the entire world into great turmoil..."

We open on the Mario Brothers' residence, on the kind of crisp, clear, beautiful day that was the norm in the Mushroom Kingdom, as the dutiful Parakoopa mailman, Parakarry, was duly delivering another letter, shouting out "Mail Call!" as was his custom. Shortly after he departed into the sky towards his next destination, Luigi stepped outside, stretching and yawning as he walked over to the mailbox to retrieve it's contents. As he shuffled through the various junk and fan mail that his brother received on a daily basis, one familiarly fancy, regal letter in particular caught his attention, and he walked back into the house with a spring in his step, excitedly showing the letter to his brother, Mario, who was still seated at their dining table, groggily hovering over the half-eaten breakfast that Luigi had prepared for the two of them, clearly still half asleep, if not more so.

"Hey bro, still not awake, huh?" Luigi asked his brother with a chuckle as he took his seat across from him, mail in hand. Mario, seemingly barely registering Luigi's presence, merely shook his head 'no' and mumbled incoherently under his breath as his face drooped lifelessly over his coffee cup. "Yeah, boy, that last job sure was a nightmare, huh bro? I still can't believe some of the things that people think are alright to flush down their toilets!" Grinning, Luigi held the letter out to Mario, the sight of which seemed to perk his brother up rather quickly.

"Well, hopefully this'll lift your spirits, it's a letter from the Princess, and you know what that usually means, right?" Luigi grinned at his brother, as the red clad man's face lit up at the word 'princess'. "Haha, I figured that'd wake you up a bit. Anyway, I'll just read it out loud like usual, alright?"

With an eager nod of confirmation from his brother, Luigi carefully opened up the dainty, elaborately decorated envelope and pulled out its contents, an even more elaborately decorated letter, then began to read aloud from it.

"Dear Mario,

I have wonderful news! Today is the day that the Mushroom Kingdom's new royal cruise ship, the Grand Toadstool, takes its maiden voyage! As our Kingdom's savior, you, of course, are invited as a special guest of honor on the cruise, as well as the party we will be having on board as it takes its first voyage to sea and back! I've enclosed your ticket with this letter, and the festivities begin this afternoon, so please don't be late! I'm looking forward to seeing you soon!

P.S. I'm sorry Luigi, I tried to get you a ticket too, but according to the people organizing the event, you weren't considered 'recognizable enough' to be invited, and even as the Princess, I'm apparently not of high enough authority to allow anyone without a ticket on board. But don't you worry, I'm going to be having a word with those jerks, believe you me, and I PROMISE I'll get you a ticket for the next trip, okay? Thanks for understanding!"

Sincerely, Princess Peach

Luigi's face drooped slightly as he finished reading the letter, and he let out a small, dejected sigh before shaking his head and smiling back at Mario, who was giving his younger brother a look of concern. Reaching into the envelope, he pulled out the ornate red and gold ticket that, as the Princess said, was included with the letter, handing it to his brother almost regretfully.

"Ah, well, I guess I should be used to things like that by now..." the green clad man said with a sad little chuckle, quickly changing his tone to a brighter one so as not to ruin the good news on Mario's end. "But hey, that's alright, like the Princess said, there's always next time for me, right? Anyway, congrats, bro! I heard that only the creme de la creme of the Mushroom Kingdom were being invited for that cruise, so who knows how many famous celebrities you'll meet there! I mean, not like it gets any bigger or more famous than you, but... Hey, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, bro, a chance to rub elbows with the elite and just relax with the Princess for once!"

Mario nodded enthusiastically, giving a little "woohoo" of excitement as his brother looked at the clock and frowned.

"Gee, it's already 10:45, you'd better hurry up and get ready, bro, you don't wanna keep the Princess waiting, and you sure don't want to show up to such a fancy shindig dressed like a plumber, do you?" Luigi stated, causing a shocked look to flash upon Mario's face as he shook his head 'no' emphatically and rushed into the brothers' bedroom to change his clothes and get packed. Zipping out moments later wearing a fancy tuxedo with a red bow tie and trim, Mario stood anxiously in front of his brother, waiting for his opinion on his choice of suit.

"Lookin' sharp, bro!" Luigi grinned, giving his brother a thumbs up of approval, allowing Mario to breathe a sigh of relief. "I mean, it'd probably look a lot better in green, but hey, red's fine too!"

Mario rolled his eyes at his brother's sarcastic statement then grinned back at him as the man in green walked over and clapped him on the back.

"Don't sweat it though, bro, I'm sure you'll fit right in with the upper crust now!" Luigi said encouragingly, before a thought popped into his head which made him frown slightly. "...Uh, but maybe you should think about packing a change of clothes, just in case, y'know? Not to put a damper on things, but you know what usually seems to happen when the Princess throws a party..."

Mario nodded knowingly to his brother and began to speak to him in his 'usual' way, which generally relied on understanding his wild hand motions more than actual words.

"What? You're wearing your tux over your overalls?" Luigi stated quizzically, before shrugging his shoulders and letting out a small laugh. "Well, that's one way of packing light, I suppose... Ah, but don't let me hold you up any longer, Princess Peach is still waiting for you, after all! And don't you worry about a thing, bro, I'll keep an eye on the place while you're gone, like usual. Now go on and have fun, bro, and give the Princess my regards!"

Mario nodded, and with another "woohoo", bounced out the door and down the pipe leading from the brothers' house to Toad Town, whistling happily to himself all the way. The focus stayed on Luigi, however, and as soon as Mario's whistling stopped and the familiar sound of his brother sliding down the warp pipe in their front yard was heard, Luigi sighed heavily to himself as he placed his elbows on the table and let his head slump down. His cheeks resting lazily on his knuckles as he stared wistfully out the window into the beautiful Mushroom Kingdom sky, Luigi shook his head and began to speak aloud to himself.

"Darn it... Once again, Mario gets to go off on some fun, exciting vacation, while I'm left sitting at home watching after this dumb ol' house. Bowser will probably crash the party, like usual, and Mario will get to go off on some grand adventure, like usual, all the while I'll be stuck here, doing nothing but waiting for news about all the cool things my brother is off doing... Like usual."

Getting up and strolling over to the brothers' bedroom, Luigi took a somewhat aged photograph down from their dresser and sighed once again as he stared at the picture it displayed, one of himself, Mario, and the Princess, smiling broadly at the camera. The picture was taken, as Luigi remembered, shortly after the brothers' adventures through Dinosaur Land, where they had first met their pal, Yoshi. It was the last time in a long time that Luigi was in any of the pictures that lined the dresser, most of them containing only Mario, the Princess, and whatever other no doubt wonderful friends that Mario had made during the adventures he had embarked on without him.

"...Gah, it's not fair!" Luigi pouted as he set the photograph back down more roughly than he had wanted to upon the dresser, causing the other picture frames to shake slightly from the impact, one of them falling off his side of the dresser entirely. "I mean, I'm a hero too, aren't I? We aren't called the 'Mario Brothers" for nothing, are we? Yet, Mario is the only one who ever gets any of the attention or praise anymore, while most people don't even know who I am! Geez..."

Shaking his head bitterly, Luigi finally took notice of the picture frame that had fallen off the dresser and reached down to pick it up, a small smile creeping across his lips for a moment as he stared fondly at the photograph displayed within it, a photograph of himself, Rosalina, and a whole bunch of cute little Lumas that were happily gathered all around them. No Mario in sight.

Of course, the one right next to it on Mario's side of the dresser contained Mario, Peach, and Rosalina, with Luigi just barely visible in the background amongst a group of Toads and Lumas, but Luigi payed no heed to it, instead placing his most treasured photograph gently next to it back where it belonged, scooting it out in front of the others a little so as to make it stand out a bit more.

"See, I'm just as much of a hero as Mario is... At least, Rosalina thinks so..." Luigi lamented to no one in particular, as he sat down upon his bed and stared sadly back at his favorite photo. "I mean, sure, maybe I'm not as brave as he is, or as quick-witted, but I'm faster, and I'm an even better jumper than HE is, so I can get the job done just as well in my own way!" Glancing over at the (much) smaller set of photographs on his side of the dresser, Luigi shivered a bit at the sight of his most recently taken picture, one that contained an adventure he'd much sooner forget than anything else. "...Er, as long as it doesn't involve ghosts... Brr... I really should check up on the professor soon to see how Spooky's doing, though..."

Before Luigi could give the thought anymore attention, however, there came a sharp knocking sound upon his door, one that Luigi certainly didn't recognize as belonging to his brother or any of their acquaintances, the sound startling him instantly out of his self-pity party, to such a degree that he jumped clear out of his seat, bonking his head on his own bunk in the process.

"Owowowowow, Mama Mia..." Luigi muttered in pain as he rubbed the back of his head gingerly. Once the pain had died down, he soon realized that there was still someone knocking at his door, and he hastily cried out, "C-COMING, JUST A MOMENT!"

Rushing to the front door, almost stumbling over one of the misaligned floorboards at the entrance to his secret room in the process, Luigi had to stop nearly on a dime to prevent himself from crashing right into the door, and after taking a moment to compose himself, he opened it somewhat warily, not knowing who exactly would be waiting for him on the other side.

"H-Hello...?" he called meekly, opening the door just a tiny crack and peering out from behind it. Not getting a response, and not seeing anyone in the small space that was visible through the crack, Luigi cautiously swung the door open wider, and was immediately baffled, as there did not appear to be hide nor hair of anyone on the other side.

"W-What the...?" Luigi stuttered in confusion, stepping outside as he glanced up, down, and around the house, not able to see anyone anywhere, nor could he see anyone in their front yard. "Strange..." he thought to himself, "I didn't hear anyone go down the pipe... Come to think of it, I didn't hear anyone come up it either..."

A sudden sense of paranoia creeping over him, Luigi quickly rushed back into his house, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it instantly. "Okay... That was weird..." Luigi said to himself, shaking his head in utter confusion as he turned and began walking back to his kitchen table to try and finish the breakfast that he had been neglecting since the mail had arrived. "I'm just going to pretend that never..." Luigi was stopped mid-sentence, as he quickly noticed something out of place sitting atop his table, a letter that he was certain wasn't there before, sitting right next to the open letter of Peach's, on Mario's side of the table. "...H-H-Happened..."

Gulping, Luigi felt a chill run down his spine, as the sense of paranoia crept back into his brain, even stronger this time. Looking all around the room, eyes darting every which way, Luigi began panicking at the thought that whoever it was at the door had somehow snuck in when he wasn't looking. Shakily grabbing his hammer from the wall for protection, Luigi made his way into the bedroom, and searched everywhere for any sign of an intruder, even taking the time to check his secret room, on the incredibly unlikely off-chance that someone had seen through his cleverly disguised entrance. They hadn't, of course.

As he returned to the kitchen, Luigi hung his hammer back up on it's hook and breathed a small sigh of relief, one that got caught in his throat midway as he once again noticed the letter that had mysteriously appeared upon his table.

"...Geez, Luigi, what are you doing?" he said to himself in disgust, once he realized how ridiculous he was acting. "Scared of a letter, really? ...Man, now I remember, THIS is why no one takes me seriously anymore... Well, no more of THAT, you hear me, me?"

Walking defiantly over to the letter, Luigi snatched it up and glanced at both sides of it, looking for any signs of identification or postage. There was none at all, save for a neatly written, cursive script reading "To Mr. Mario". Undeterred, Luigi tore the envelope open, shaking it upside down over the table to spill it's contents out in front of him. Curiously enough, another ticket fell out of the envelope along with the letter, something which piqued Luigi's already budding interest.

"Huh? What's this...?" Luigi said, picking up the ticket and looking it over. "A first class ticket to New Appelle for my brother? Who in the world would send something like this?" Setting the ticket down, Luigi picked up the letter that came with it, unfolding it to see the same neat, cursive script that was scrawled on the envelope. Reading it silently to himself, Luigi's interest and curiosity soon turned to panic and dread by the time he had finished.

"To Mario,

My name is Merlon. Perhaps you may have crossed paths with another Merlon or two during one of your no doubt countless journeys, but I assure you that we have never met before. I live in the city of New Appelle, a bustling metropolis which I'm sure you recognize immediately as one of the biggest cities in the Mushroom Kingdom. Apologies for the vagueness, but I'll just cut right to the chase, since I'm uncertain how safe it is to reveal any particular details of this in a letter. As people of my race often do, last night I had a vision, a vision concerning you, and it is most urgent that I speak to you as soon as possible. You mustn't waste any time, for this is a matter of grave importance, as I fear the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom, if not the world itself, is in utter peril. It must be you, and ONLY you, who heeds this call, for reasons I will specify when we meet face to face in the privacy of my house, the only place I know of that is safe from potentially prying eyes. Attached to this letter is a plane ticket to New Appelle, please drop whatever you are doing immediately and make haste to the airport at once. I will be waiting for you at my house, which I'm certain you'll be able to locate quite easily once you arrive.

P.S. Do NOT tell ANYONE else about the contents of this letter, or that you are leaving for New Appelle, this matter concerns you and you alone, I am certain of that fact, and it is simply just not safe to trust anybody in this situation.

-Merlon

Luigi jumped up in shock once he finished the letter, dropping it to the table as he shot his attention over to the clock on the wall and gasped.

"Oh no, Mario's probably already at the docks!" he cried, hastily scooping up the letter and ticket back into the envelope. "I gotta hurry up and get these to him before it's too late!"

Rushing out the door, Luigi didn't even remember to lock it behind him, such was the urgency in his step, as he zipped down the warp pipe to Toad Town. Running through it's streets as fast as his feet would carry him, slipping and sliding every which way as he tried to turn corners, Luigi cried out his brother's name repeatedly in the vain hope that he would hear him, but all he got instead were a lot of curious looks from the residents of Toad Town as he passed them all by on his frantic dash through the usually peaceful town.

Finally, he arrived at the Toad Town docks, but unfortunately for him, the entire area was absolutely packed with onlookers watching the ship as it got ready to head out to sea for the very first time, many hoping to catch a glimpse of the Princess, Mario, or their other favorite celebrities.

"MARIOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luigi cried out, trying desperately to get his brother's attention before the ship departed, as he fought to make his way through the incredibly dense crowd of people. "Hey, please, I need to get to my brother, Mario! It's extremely important!"

"Hey, watch it, pal!"

"Yeah, and my mom is Princess Peach!" shouted someone else from the crowd, drawing a bit a laughter from the others around him. "Get in line like everyone else, you loser!"

"Yeah, no cutting!"

Before Luigi could say anything else on the matter, he was unceremoniously dumped back out at the back of the crowd. As he lay face first in the dirt, he could hear the incredibly loud sound of the ship's horn, signaling it's departure, followed by the wild screams of the crowd as everyone began to yell and wave goodbye to those onboard, much to Luigi's horror. Shooting to his feet, Luigi decided it was time for desperate measure, and jumped atop the crowd itself, stepping as quickly as he could atop the heads of the unsuspecting and none-too-pleased citizens in front of him.

"MAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOO!" he cried at the top of his lungs, as he waved frantically to Mario, trying desperately to get his attention. Just as his brother caught sight of him, however, someone angrily grabbed a hold of his legs and yanked him down from his perch, sending him crashing back down into the crowd of people, completely undetectable to his brother, as the ship slowly cruised out to sea and faded away into the distance.

Luigi could do nothing but cower in fear and hope to not get trampled as the crowd began to pour out around him, everyone else eager to get back to their normal lives or to Club 64 to continue celebrating now that the ship had departed. It wasn't until a good minute later when Luigi finally looked up, only to see he was the only one left around, save for a small smattering of Toads who presumably worked at the docks, all of whom looked on at Luigi with varying looks of bewilderment or scorn.

Struggling to get back up to his feet once again, Luigi quickly fell back to his knees and hung his head in defeat once he realized the boat was no longer anywhere in sight.

"Oh, no..." he began, grasping the sides of his head as he began to shake his head more and more. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! NOW how am I supposed to get this to Mario?! The ship isn't supposed to be back until next week! Mama Mia, what am I gonna do now?!"

"Mommy, why is that strange green man talking to himself and vibrating?" came the precocious voice of a young Toad child, who stood a short ways away, pointing at Luigi as he and his mother waited in line in front of an ice cream vendor.

"Come along now, dear, it's not nice to point at raving lunatics." the child's mother replied, handing the boy his ice cream cone and ushering his gaze away from Luigi. "They're people too, after all!"

"...Hnnngh, think Luigi, THINK!" Luigi said to himself, not at all paying any attention to the slight scene that he was causing. "Come on, what would Mario do? ...Oh, right, he'd go, because... The letter's... For him..."

Luigi drooped his head once more, letting it hang there for a moment before suddenly perking it back up, an uncharacteristically determined look upon his face.

"Hey, you know what? Who's to say Mario always has to be the hero?" he stated to himself, scoffing as he picked himself back up once again, this time much more confidently. "Sure, this Merlon guy may have asked specifically for him and only him, but how was he to know his letter wouldn't reach him in time? And sure, I'm not Mario, but I'm the next best thing! Whatever it is that he needs Mario for, I can do just as well! Yeah, that's right, let Mario have fun and relax for once, it's finally Luigi's time to shine!"

Hopping up in the air excitedly, a new resolve manifesting within him, Luigi hurriedly began to make his way to the Toad Town Airport, the ticket meant for his brother clutched firmly in his gloved hand, as a few of the Toads who were still watching him cheered him on, regardless of the fact that they had absolutely no clue whatsoever who he was or what he was doing.

PAPER LUIGI: THE DREAM CATHEDRAL

PRESS START

Yuck, hopefully that opening section wasn't too "generic-y"or "same-y", I was trying to go for a natural, Paper Mario feel, and I think they all started with story book openings, so... Also, I'll just state now that, names, locations, and etcetera are all subject to change, particularly the title, as I am HORRIBLE with names, as you will no doubt very soon see, and I was just trying to think of some sort of "Paper Mario-y" sounding title, since "Paper Luigi: The Placeholder Subtitle" isn't really a good name for a story in my opinion. Anyways, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon, in case anyone starts reading this. Bye for now!