I didn't lie this time, this really is the last part of the prologue!

"Ohoho, now that's quite a story you got there, sonny! You always seem to be up to your eyebrows in danger, don'tcha?"

"Yeah, I don't know how that keeps happening..."

It had taken about twenty minutes for Luigi and Yassie to explain to E. Gadd in full what they were doing and why they had come to see him, and they were now sitting in the professor's living room, if you could even call the room by such a name. The tiny, cramped room was made even smaller by the numerous machines scattered all about that appeared to have only doubled in number from outside. Seated on the only piece of furniture that wasn't already occupied by some sort of gadget, the two sat rather uncomfortably on the odd shaped couch as Luigi finally managed to wring the last of Spooky's drool out of his beautiful mustache. The Polterpup rested comfortably at his feet, overjoyed to see his master again.

"Boy, it sure is a good thing I happened to be in town then, eh Luigi?"

Sighing, Luigi nodded and lied through his teeth. "Oh yes, for sure, professor..." Luigi, of course, knew full well that E. Gadd was little more than a harbinger of doom for him, as whenever he crossed paths with the old man, he would soon without fail be forced into doing something that would be highly, highly unpleasant for him. Suddenly, this whole adventure seemed like a terrible idea to the plumber.

Glancing down at his feet, Luigi cleared his throat and let out a small, plaintive chuckle. "I had this awfu-I-I mean, this not awful at all feeling that you were Merlon's old acquaintance... But I sure wasn't expecting to see Spooky here, though..."

"Ah, yes, well, I didn't want to have to leave the poor pooch all alone in that big ol' mansion of yours, so I figured I'd take 'im along with me, give 'im a chance to see the world and all that." E. Gadd replied, collecting the tea cups that he had set out for the two and putting them in a particularly sinister looking machine, which zapped the cups with a bright green light, causing them to disintegrate into a pile of ashes. "Oh nuts, I thought I fixed that..."

"Wow, you own a mansion, Luigi?" Yassie asked in awe, looking at Luigi in her usual star-struck way.

"Er, well, it's... Kind of a long story..." Luigi stuttered in response, not particularly wanting to bring up the memories of that place if he didn't absolutely have to. It's true, he technically owned a sprawling, luxurious mansion, but he wasn't too particularly fond of the other inhabitants of it, even if they were technically friendly now. Realizing he didn't really have any way to take care of his new overly-energetic Polterpup at he and his brother's normal house, he left him and the mansion in the care of E. Gadd, hoping it would be a good fit for both of them. Obviously, that wasn't the case.

"Boy, but he sure was happy to see you again, young feller!" E. Gadd said, clapping his hands together happily as he stared at the euphoric Polterpup that continued to cuddle against Luigi's feet.

"Yeah, I'm... Happy to see him again too." Luigi said with a small smile, unable to keep himself from doing so as he too looked down at his doggie, realizing he had indeed missed the pup as well. He knew simply visiting his dog wasn't the reason they had come, however, and he quickly cleared his throat and gave E. Gadd a serious look. "Ah, but, we can probably catch up later, professor. Is there anything you can tell us about the Dream Casters? Merlon said you were sort of an expert on the things, or something to that effect."

"Ohoho, well, I don't know if I'd call myself an expert, but..." E. Gadd began, waving his hand dismissively at Luigi's claims. "It is true that I know my fair share about the things. I've always been fascinated by how these type o' dealies work, and there aren't any that fascinate me more than the Dream Casters! The ability to do whatever you want, no matter how outlandish it would be? My, wouldn't that be just a marvelous power to have at your control!"

"Er, yeah, it sounds, uh, 'marvelous', alright..." Luigi began, not really wanting E. Gadd to go off on a tangent as he was so wont to do. "But Merlon already told us about what they do, what we need to know is how to find them, professor. Do you know where any of them might be?"

"Hmm..." E. Gadd frowned, as he put his hand to his chin and thought deeply. Moments later, he shook his head no, causing Luigi and Yassie to both release exasperated sighs. "Sorry young'uns, but if I knew where any of them were, I would've already went off to find 'im myself! Or rather, I would've gotten you and your brother to find 'im for me, Luigi! Dohohohoho!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you would've..." Luigi said dryly, rolling his eyes as he didn't doubt a word that E. Gadd said.

"You know what though, there might just be a way..." E. Gadd said after a moment of silence, causing Luigi and Yassie's attention to perk back up. E. Gadd continued talking as he walked over to an overstuffed bookcase and pulled out a dusty, ancient looking tome. "I seem to recall having read that the Dream Casters have a sort of built in 'tracking device' amongst them. As in, if you have one, you can use its powers to lead you in the direction of the rest of them."

"W-Wow, really?" Luigi said excitedly, as E. Gadd dropped the tome onto his coffee table with a dull thump, the noise startling Spooky and causing him to jump up into Luigi's lap.

"Yes indeedy!" E. Gadd said triumphantly, as he squeezed in beside Luigi on the already cramped couch and thumbed through the tome's pages until he found the one he was looking for. "This tome is the only text I know of that speaks directly of the Dream Casters themselves, and not as a second or third hand account of them. Unfortunately, most of the pages are missing, so there's no way to find out who created them, or for what purpose. It does state, however, that they caused great war and strife amongst the ancient people who fought each other for control of them, each wanting to get their greedy little mitts on the things so their kingdoms would rule all. Seeing the great calamity they caused, the whoevers or whatevers that made the things, which this book only calls 'the Great Creators', punished the people for their hubris by taking the Dream Casters away, disguising them and hiding them all over what's now the Mushroom Kingdom so that no one would ever fight for them or try to abuse their powers ever again."

"So, the old 'created for good, only ever misused for evil' chestnut, eh?" Yassie asked.

E. Gadd nodded. "It would seem so, lassie. Although, there isn't any actual text of anyone ever misusing them, only STRIVING to do so. Unless, of course, that happened in the pages that were ripped out. But, as it were, each of the seven ancient kingdoms had control of their own Dream Caster, assumingly given to each of them by the Great Creators, and apparently that just wasn't good enough for any of 'em. But, back to the point at hand, it says that as a precaution for if the Great Creators ever needed to find the Dream Casters and couldn't, they made them so that as long as they knew where one was, they could use it to lead them to the rest of them."

Luigi shook his head in concern as he calmly stroked his Polterpup's head. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but don't we need to find at least one first too, then? How are we gonna find even one if we have no idea where any of them are?"

"Ah, I didn't say that I didn't have any ideas of where they were at, my lad!" E. Gadd said, a gleam shining from his lenses. Closing the tome, he walked over to the bookshelf and put it back, then motioned for Luigi and Yassie to follow him. With Spooky trotting closely behind Luigi, the group stopped in front of a large, seemingly empty wall. With the press of a button, however, the wall and floor around it began to shift around, revealing a giant computer monitor that took up the space of the entire wall. Clacking a few keys on the large, desk sized keyboard that had sprouted from the floor in front of it, E. Gadd displayed upon the screen a hideously complicated formula of some sort that neither Luigi nor Yassie could even begin to comprehend.

"Uh... Are we supposed to know what any of that stuff means, professor?" Yassie asked after a moment, scratching her head in confusion as she and Luigi exchanged hopeless glances at one another.

"Hmm?" E. Gadd looked at the screen and let out a chortle. "Ohoho, no, that's just my desktop background! THIS is what you should take a look at!"

Running his fingers across the keyboard's mousebox, he double clicked on an image file, opening it to display an even more confusing jumble of lines and jargon that E. Gadd appeared to have made himself using a drawing program. In the middle of all the scribbles was a picture of a cozy little seaside town with a great, enormous mountain looming over it. Pasted atop the mountain was a rather badly hand-drawn image of a star, circled in red about fifty times.

"Nimbihurst?" Yassie stated in immediate recognition of the pictured town, drawing rather impressed looks from both Luigi and E. Gadd. "Are you saying there's a Dream Caster there, professor?"

"Well, I can't be certain, but..." Pulling up a few text files, each filled with the same unreadable gobbledygook that only the professor could possibly interpret, E. Gadd continued excitedly, as if his guests could actually understand the text files at all. "All the research I've poured into the subject seems to indicate that the last actual known location of any of the Dream Casters was in the location where Nimbihurst happens to be in this day and age."

"In this day and age?" Luigi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Professor, just how far back was it when this last actual location was known?"

"Oh, about a thousand or so years ago, give or take a few decades." E. Gadd said with a small chuckle, oblivious to the incredulous looks that Yassie and Luigi were giving him.

"A thousand years ago?!" Luigi cried. "There's no way that thing is still gonna be there after all these years!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, youngster." E. Gadd said, a gleam in his glasses as he began to scroll through the text files for the 'benefit' of his guests. "It seems that around the time that the Dream Caster was last seen was the same time that Nimbihurst first started appearing in recorded history. Of course, I'm sure it wasn't anything special way back then, but throughout history, its been known as a particularly quiet, lucky town. It's consistently rated as one of the safest places in all of the Mushroom Kingdom, despite the fact that it's wedged in a valley between a mountain and the ocean, and not once has a rock slide, hurricane, or any other such natural disaster ever befell the city even once in it's entire history!"

"That's... Nice?" Luigi said slowly, scratching his head. "But what does any of that have to do with anything?"

Yassie spoke up before E. Gadd had to explain anything further, nodding knowingly. "I think what the professor is trying to say is that Nimbihurst's good luck isn't exactly natural... Or in other words, the Dream Caster disappearing around the same time that Nimbihurst first appeared isn't a coincidence."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking, my girl!" E. Gadd said, clapping happily. "You've got a good thinker in that noggin of yours, Luigi could learn a thing or two from you, I think! Ohohohoho!"

Luigi folded his arms and looked at E. Gadd in annoyance. "Alright, alright, let's just get back to explaining things for the benefit of my poor, feeble mind, capiche?"

"Ah, yes, of course, sonny." E. Gadd said, though it took him another few moments for his laughter to die down. "Anyhoo, as your friend there said, I don't think it's a mere coincidence that Nimbihurst first showed up when the Dream Caster disappeared. I have an inkling that whoever it was that founded Nimbihurst was the same person who discovered the Dream Caster. Chances are they didn't even know what it was, but I'd assume that it subtly influenced the prosperation of the town, and has been doing so for centuries, the Dream Caster being passed down throughout the ages from one head of town to the next. So, all you've got to do is head to Nimbihurst, ask whoever happens to be running the joint now if they have any priceless family heirlooms in their possession, and then ask them if you can borrow it for a teensy tiny bit. Easy as pie, my boy!"

While it may have sounded 'easy as pie' to E. Gadd, Luigi and Yassie seemed less than convinced.

"Professor, not to be rude or anything, but do you hear the things you say sometimes?" Luigi asked, shaking his head at the professor's naivety. "Assuming you're right and the Dream Caster really is in Nimbihurst and in the possession of the town's leader, why in the world would he or she be willing to let us, two completely random strangers, have what you yourself called a 'priceless family heirloom'?"

"I'm gonna have to agree with Luigi here, professor." Yassie said, just as skeptical of E. Gadd's plan as Luigi was. "Somehow, I don't think they'll believe us if we were to tell them we needed their family's precious heirloom to help save the world from a group of unknown shadowy blobs. After all, you said they probably didn't even know that it was anything special in the first place, and on the off chance that they did, why would they want to give away the thing that's keeping their town safe and prosperous?"

"You never know, youngsters, sometimes people surprise you." E. Gadd said simply. Luigi couldn't tell if the professor truly believed his plan would work, or if he really was just that naive. Sighing, he realized it was probably some of both and that there was no point in trying to push the subject any further.

"Okay, so, let's just pretend for a moment that we get out there, and the Dream Caster isn't there after all. Then what?" Luigi asked, not really wanting to go through with the professor's plan unless it was absolutely the only option available. "Don't you have even the slightest idea where any other Dream Casters might be, professor? Surely, there have been some accounts of them in recent history? Or at least, strange occurrences like the whole Nimbihurst being so peaceful thing that you've noticed elsewhere?"

"Hmm..." E. Gadd put his hand to his chin and furrowed his brow, staring at his text files intently for a minute before letting out a small sigh and shaking his head once more. "Sorry sonny, but nothing that I have enough confidence in to send you two to investigate. I have a few vague ideas where some may be, but there's just not enough information available for me to truly believe in any of them. But on the plus side, if you find the one in Nimbihurst, it should be able to point you to the next one, and with any luck, wherever it points you may match up with another location that I have on my list of possible spots!"

Looking from E. Gadd to Yassie in exasperation, Luigi's shoulders slumped.

"Hey, it's better than nothing, right?" Yassie said, trying to keep things positive, though she too was less than thrilled about having only such a sketchy lead to follow.

Luigi let out another large sigh as Spooky whimpered at him slightly, picking up on his sadness. "I guess..."

"Oh, don't be so down in the dumps, sonny!" E. Gadd stated, clapping Luigi on the back reassuringly. "I know that if anyone can find these things, it'd be you!"

"That's right, Luigi!" Yassie exclaimed, clapping Luigi on his other shoulder in a much more forceful manner than E. Gadd had. "There's no better person for a job like this than you! If you could save Princess Eclair, then this shouldn't be any problem at all!"

"Bark bark bark!" Spooky added, jumping up excitedly at Luigi in an attempt to recoat his face in drool.

"...Alright, alright..." Luigi stated after a moment of silence, unable to keep of his negativity in the air of his friends' confident words. "I guess if we're gonna do this, I can't be so skeptical of everything. I'm sure my brother runs into problems like this all the time, and he doesn't get all mopey about it. So, let's do this!" Sticking his fist out in front of him, Yassie and Spooky eagerly joined in, Yassie sticking her own fist out and Spooky sticking his tongue out respectively at Luigi's fist.

"Oh, Spooky, not the glove!" Luigi said in disgust, shaking his gloved hand futilely to try and get the slobber off of it.

"At least you were WEARING something..." Yassie added, she too shaking her hand to get the yuck off.

"Eugh..." Realizing there were more important things at hand than his glove, Luigi quickly shifted subjects back. "A-Anyways, thanks for all your help, professor, if we find the Dream Caster, we'll come back here immediately so we can figure out what to do next, okay?"

"Sounds like a fine plan to me, my boy!" E. Gadd said with an agreeing nod. "In the mean time, I'll keep researching the possible resting places of the other ones, and hopefully by the time you two get back, I'll have found something a bit more concrete to follow up on."

"Right, well, good luck with that, professor." Luigi said. "You ready, Yassie?"

"Oh, one more thing before you go, you two!" E. Gadd stated in urgency before Yassie could respond. "I almost forgot, let me give you one of my new inventions to take along with you to make things easier for the lot of us!"

Taking off down the hallway, E. Gadd stepped into another room, and after a few loud, house shaking crashes, reappeared with a familiar device in his hands.

"The Dual Scream, professor?" Luigi questioned, raising an eyebrow as he saw the small, silver device in E. Gadd's hands. "That's not really new, is it?"

Yassie too raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the device's strange name. "Dual Scream?"

"It's... Another long story..." Luigi said, not really wanting Yassie to find out the embarrassing origins behind the thing's title.

"Ohoho, don't you worry, sonny, this ain't your granddaddy's DS!" E. Gadd said with a sly grin. Flipping the device open, he pushed a few buttons on it, and to Luigi and Yassie's amazement, a small, holographic duplicate of E. Gadd appeared 'atop' the machine's bottom screen. "Behold, the latest and greatest version of the E. Gadd Industries Dual Scream, the 3-Dimensional Daily Digital Secretary, or 3DS for short. I figured 'Dual Scream' wasn't exactly a name that'd make the thing fly off the shelves, so to speak, so I changed it around to somethin' a little more casual soundin'."

"I dunno, the new name is... Quite a mouthful." Luigi said under his breath. "But er, wow, that little hologram thingy sure is neat, what all does it do?"

"Heh, it'd probably be easier to tell you a list of things that it doesn't do, sonny!" E. Gadd replied with a hearty chortle. "First and foremost, you can use it for 3-dimensional video chats, providing the person you're speaking to has another 3DS, of course! As of right now, I only have my two prototype versions, so you won't be able to use this feature with anyone besides me, I'm afraid. But not to worry, this way, you'll be able to keep me up to date with your progress, and I'll be able to pass on any new information I happen to find out without you having to come all the way back to my lab all the time! But that's not all, no, far from it, my lad! With this wondrous device, you'll also be able to send and receive emails, view a fully detailed map of your current area, surf the web, watch TV, fry an omelet... Heck, you can do pretty much anything except play video games on it!"

"Wow, really?" Luigi asked, looking at the little machine in awe before seeing the sheepish look that E. Gadd had adopted.

"...Well, in theory, at least." the professor added quietly, under Luigi's scrutinizing gaze. "See, it's still in its prototype stage, so most of those features still haven't been implemented yet, other than the video chat, map, and the e-mail services. But just think, you'll be the first on the block to own one of these marvelous machines before anyone else once I've finished fine tuning them and put them on the market!"

"Gee, terrific." Luigi said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"No fair, how come I don't get one?" Yassie pouted.

"Don't worry, you can have this one once this whole thing is over." Luigi muttered to her out of earshot from E. Gadd.

"Eee, oh boy, I can't wait!" Yassie said giddily, excited at the prospect of owning such a revolutionary sounding device.

"Er, but thanks professor, really." Luigi said, nodding gratefully to the professor as he slipped the machine into his pocket. "I'm sure this'll come in handy, just like the last Dual Scream."

"And thank the stars I won't have to worry about being pixelated every time the thing rings this time..." the plumber thought happily to himself.

"No problem, my boy!" E. Gadd said with a grin. "And if you ever need my help with anything, just give me a call, my genius intellect will be sure to help you out of any pickle you may happen to get yourselves into!"

"Will do, professor!" Yassie said, as she, Luigi, and Spooky made their way towards the door.

"Ah, right, one more thing before you go!" E. Gadd said for the second time. Fishing around in the pockets of his lab coat, he pulled out a small, shiny silver badge that was shaped like a spiked boot. He flipped it to Luigi, who just barely managed to fumble and keep a hold of it. Luigi recognized the badge as a Power Stomp and smiled. "I found that ol' thing laying around the other day, you may as well get some use out of it, my boy! You do know how to use those things, right?"

"Oh yeah, I know all about badges, professor." Luigi stated as he equipped the badge on his overalls. "Thanks, this should definitely be useful!"

"Alrighty, well, good luck you three, make sure you keep yourselves safe now, y'hear?" E. Gadd called as Luigi opened the front door and began to step outside.

"Thanks professor, we-" Luigi began, before stopping dead in his tracks as his mind processed what E. Gadd had said. "Wait a minute, you THREE?"

"Why, you, Yassie, and Spooky, of course!" E. Gadd stated.

Luigi looked down at his Polterpup, who immediately sat down obediently at his feet and looked up happily at him, his tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Uh, I-I wasn't planning on taking Spooky with me, professor..." Luigi said in hesitation, causing the Polterpup to start whimpering and staring up at him with an absolutely pitiful expression. "I mean, I wouldn't want him to get hurt or anything..."

"Oh, hockey sticks, you don't have to worry about him getting hurt, he's a ghost, for criminy's sake!" E. Gadd said, laughing and shaking his head at Luigi's words. "Besides, he could be a real asset for you on your journey! Why, with his super sniffer, you shouldn't have any trouble at all with finding things or getting lost!"

"Yeah, but it's not really his nose that I'm concerned about..." Luigi exclaimed, thinking back unpleasantly to all the mischief the spectral dog had gotten himself and Luigi into during their first meetings.

"Oh, now, you know that wasn't his fault, youngster!" E. Gadd said, waggling his finger at the plumber in a tsking manner. "He's a perfectly well-mannered pooch now, and all he wants to do is spend time with and help out his master, are you saying you're gonna deny the poor thing of those few, simple wantings and force him to stay here in this stuffy old house for who knows how long?"

"...N-No, but I..." Luigi began, trying his best to ignore the whimpers and pleading look that Spooky was only pouring on more and more of.

"Aw, come on, Luigi, don't be so mean!" Yassie said, bending down to pet Spooky and joining him in looking up accusingly at Luigi. "I'm sure he'd be a great help, just like the professor said! And it'd be more fun with him along, too! Pleeeeeeeease, Luigi?"

Glancing from one pitiful face to the next and realizing he would get no help on the matter, Luigi finally couldn't take it anymore and caved in, much to the delight of everyone around him. "...Alright, he can come with us..."

"Yay!" Yassie cried, she and Spooky hopping up and down in utter excitement.

"BUT!"Luigi bellowed, stopping the hopping dead. "No more nasty, disgusting face slobbering, okay? It takes FOREVER to get that stuff out of my mustache, and it completely ruins its luxurious sheen!"

Spooky, wanting to let Luigi know he understood, promptly hopped up into his arms and gave his face another nasty, disgusting slobbering.

"SPOOKY, NO!"

"Oh my gosh, my sides..."

It took Luigi a good five minutes to clean his face once more, but the group had finally made their way back outside of E. Gadd's place, Spooky following obediently behind Luigi, and Yassie barely able to breathe from the massive bout of laughter she had just been engaged in.

"Well, I'm glad someone got enjoyment out of that." Luigi said sarcastically as he waited for Yassie to get her wind back.

"N-No, don't be that way Luigi, I wasn't laughing at you!" Yassie proclaimed, still giggling slightly to herself as she was unable to get the picture of Spooky blissfully ignoring Luigi out of her mind.

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." Luigi said, shaking his head and smirking. "Well, once you can breathe again, would you happen to know how we would go about getting to this Nimbihurst place?"

"Ah, well, let me think..." Yassie said, crossing her arms and looking up at the darkening sky in thought. "Nimbihurst is far to the south of here, so walking is out of the question. Even if we had any money, I don't think the train runs there anymore, and I don't think there are any boats that go there from here either..."

Luigi frowned at this news. "Uh, so, IS there any efficient way there from here, then?"

"Still thinking..." Yassie said, shushing Luigi before a light bulb quickly went off in her head. "Oh, that's right! I think there's a pipe somewhere in the old subway tunnels that leads to the outskirts of Nimbihurst! You know all about pipes, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Luigi said with a small laugh. "I'm not so sure I like the sound of 'old subway tunnels', though."

"Oh, don't worry, it's not like there are rat men living down there or anything." Yassie said, waving her hand dismissively. "They're not any more dangerous than the rest of the city, at least."

Luigi whimpered. "I know you meant that to be reassuring, but..."

"Relax, it'll be fine!" Yassie said. "Now come on, we have a world to save, remember?"

"...Y-Yeah, of course..." Luigi muttered, sighing as he followed Yassie back the way they had come to get to E. Gadd's house, Spooky trotting happily behind him, sniffing everything in sight. As they passed by the Helping House, however, they were stopped in their tracks at the sound of a shocked gasp coming from the house's entrance.

"Oh my gosh, wait!"

Luigi and Yassie turned in curiosity towards the sound of the voice, which to Luigi's utmost horror seemed to have come from the pale lavender Boo that was making a beeline for them. Instinctively, he scrambled behind Yassie, not wanting anything to do with any ghosts besides Spooky.

"Luigi, what are you-"

"A-Ah, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" the Boo cried out before Yassie could finish her sentence. Reaching the group, Luigi was able to get a better look at her; her strange, ghostly pigtails bobbed whispily as she slowed to a stop, and her long, flowing red and white scarf seemed ill-fitted for a Boo, as it took up almost half of her entire body, her tail just barely peeking out from underneath it. Equally ill-befitting of a Boo was her pleasant, kindly expression, which Luigi had never seen on a single Boo in his entire lifetime, and he had seen a lot of them. This, of course, was of little consequence to Luigi, and he continued to huddle behind Yassie like a child, while Spooky merely sniffed at her and wagged his tail curiously.

"Please, don't be afraid!" the Boo said, seeing Luigi's continued disturbance at her appearance. "I didn't mean to just rush up like that, I just... Well, I had to get your attention somehow!"

"Um, can I ask why?" Yassie questioned, not really sure of what to say or do with Luigi cowering behind her in such a fashion.

"Oh, right, of course!" the Boo said in realization, quickly beginning to rummage through her scarf until she pulled out an object Luigi assumed he'd never see again.

"My wallet!" he gasped, stepping out from behind Yassie so the Boo could hand it to him. Opening it up, he was even more shocked to see everything was still in it. "M-My money, and passport!"

"Wow, you're kidding! That stuff's still in there?" Yassie exclaimed in equal shock at the news.

"Yeah, b-but... How?" Luigi looked at the Boo in utter confusion. He had never seen her before, how in the world did she get a hold of his wallet, and with nothing missing from it, to boot?

"Ah, well, I was just out walking when this guy in green zoomed by me, or rather, through me, and he ended up dropping it." the Boo began. "He just kept going without even bothering to look back, and I was going to try and return it to him and give him a piece of my mind when I realized that it didn't even belong to him! He was probably trying to steal something from me too, but luckily, I don't have any money, so the joke was on him. Anyways, I was looking all around to see if I could find the wallet's owner, but I didn't have any luck, obviously. So I was just coming to bring it to the Helping House to post that I had found it, when, well, you showed up out of the blue! Talk about lucky!"

"...Y-Yeah, I'll say..." Luigi stuttered, still in shock at the Boo's story. "Gosh, I... I don't know how I can ever thank you!"

"Yeah, wow, it's SUPER rare to see someone like you around here, most people would just take the wallet themselves, or at least take the things inside it!" Yassie exclaimed.

"Oh no, I could never do something like that." the Boo stated immediately, shaking her head at the mere thought of doing such a thing. "And you don't have to worry about thanking me, I'm just glad I was able to find you to give it back so easily!"

"Ah, wait, at least let me give you a reward or something, you said you didn't have any money, didn't you?" Luigi said, as he began to reach into his wallet for some coins to give to the Boo.

"Oh, no, no, please, keep you money." the Boo urged, putting her hands up. "I... I didn't mean it like that, I just... Well, it doesn't matter, but please, you don't need to give me anything. I appreciate the sentiment, though!"

"Oh... Well, if you're sure..." Luigi said slowly, as he put his wallet back into his pocket. "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do for you, though?"

"No no, like I said, I'm just glad I was able to find you so quickly!" the Boo said with a smile. Glancing at the clock that hung above the Helping House's doorway, she let out a small gasp. "Oh my gosh though, I have to go! It was nice to meet you guys, I hope you have a great day! Oh, and your dog is adorable!"

The Boo trailed off as she quickly faded off into the distance, disappearing into one of the many crowds of people that led into the city proper. Luigi and Yassie waved her goodbye until she was gone.

"Wow, what a nice Boo!" Yassie said, giggling slightly to herself. "Now there's a phrase I didn't think I'd ever say... But goodness, you're so lucky that she found your wallet, Luigi!"

"Geez, tell me about it." Luigi said in agreement. "I think that's the first genuinely good thing that's happened to me since I got here! Er, I-I mean, besides running into you, of course, ehehehe..."

Yassie put her hands on her hips and smirked at the plumber. "Gee, thanks. Gosh, I just realized though, we didn't even get her name!"

"Oh, you're right!" Luigi said, frowning. "She's not someone you've ever seen before?"

Yassie shook her head. "No, unfortunately. I should've gotten her on camera, though, I've had the thing running since we fought those thugs, so at least we won't forget what she looks like if we ever happen to run into her again."

"Yeah, because I sure do feel terrible for not being able to thank her in any way..." Luigi said sadly, before perking his attention back up. "...Wait, you've had your camera running all this time?"

"Yup!" Yassie said proudly, patting the camera that sat snugly in her bag. "I don't wanna miss a minute of our adventure, after all! And I just bought this new anti-shake cradle and everything, I wanted to see how well it worked! Because let me tell you, if it doesn't work like they advertised, then boy oh boy, am I going to have a few things to say to the store who sold it to me!"

As Yassie continued rambling on and on about her camera and its many dongles, Luigi couldn't help but feel horrible inside, as he had already been captured on film acting like a wimp countless times already, and the journey hadn't even technically begun yet!

"...and my GOSH, you wouldn't even BELIEVE how hard it was for me to find... Uh, you okay, Luigi?" Yassie asked worriedly, breaking off from her spiel once she noticed the look on Luigi's face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." Luigi claimed, rubbing Spooky's head, as the dog looked at him in equal fret. "So, is there an entrance to the underground anywhere near here?"

"Oh, yeah, there's actually one right behind that little shopping center we passed on the way here." Yassie said. "And now that we have money, we can stock up on supplies on the way there!"

"Yeah, thank goodness." Luigi said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief knowing that he wouldn't have to consume the horrifying things that were festering in his pockets after all.

After a quick stop at the shop to stock up on the essentials, Luigi, Yassie, and Spooky made their way down the partially blocked off entrance to the old subway tunnels, and after a short, enemy free journey, quickly reached the pipe that Yassie claimed led to Nimbihurst.

"Well, are you guys ready?" Luigi asked to his compatriot and dog one more time before his stepped into the pipe.

"Like you wouldn't even believe!" Yassie said excitedly, all too eager to leave New Appelle behind, even if only for a little while.

"Woof woof, bark!" Spooky said happily, as he hopped up into Luigi's arms in preparation.

"Um, y-you're sure you know how to use these things though, right?" Yassie asked after a moment's hesitation, having never traveled by pipe before.

Luigi let out a laugh. "Oh yeah, I don't think there's anyone besides my brother who knows how to use these things better than I do. Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it, just stick close to me, alright?"

"Oh, don't worry, I won't let you out of my sight..." Yassie responded nervously, still apprehensive about traveling through such a tight space, but choosing to trust in Luigi regardless.

"Alright then, let's do this!" Luigi said confidently, hopping up on top of the pipe and helping Yassie to do the same. "It's time to show the world what we're made of! It's Luigi Time!"

Finally done with the prologue, thank god! But yeah, after this, it's time to continue to not write the first chapter, as we instead check up on that other Mario brother to see what he's up to. Surely his boat ride went completely pleasantly, and he and Peach are enjoying it thoroughly with no hiccups whatsoever, am I right?