Mario and Luigi said their goodbyes to the Princess and Toadsworth and got back in their work van. Luigi rolled down the window and leaned his head out. "You should probably stay inside for your own safety Princess, just until this is cleared up anyway."

"Yes, I agree" replied Toadsworth stepping in front of Peach.

"I am capable of looking after myself you know guys" she said crossing her arms in a huff.

Luigi sighed and wound the window back up and slowly drove out of the front gate re-joining the traffic.

"She says that but always manages to get herself kidnapped" Mario chuckled, rolling his eyes.

Luigi nodded and turned the radio back on to see if there were any updates on the situation. "hzzzt and bzzzzt the sky will be mainly clear all day with only a five percent chance of rainfall. In other news, the investigations into the mysterious warp pipe have been halted. The pipe has been reported to have receded back into the ground and there are no traces of it ever being there. The investigators are baffled by this and are urging any witnesses to come forward with any information they may have regarding who, or what has arrived through this uncharted pipe. Please report any information to the Mushroom Kingdom Police Department as soon as possible. For the time being, the police are advising all citizens to stay in their homes until the matter is resolved. Next up on Star FM, our number one hit this week, Haunted Moonlight by the Flaming Boo's! ". A spooky yet catchy tune starts to play.

"How can there be no trace of the pipe at all? That doesn't make any sense." Luigi said scratching his head.

"I don't know Luigi but something isn't right. What are we supposed to do now? There's no trace of the pipe so we can't even follow it to see where it came from" replied Mario.

"I guess we just gotta wait and see if anything turns up. We have no leads so there isn't much else we can do for now bro" Luigi said tapping on the steering wheel, getting impatient with the traffic.

"I guess you're right. Let's just get home and call that lady at Poshley Heights to rearrange that job. She'll be wondering where the hell we are" said Mario

"If she's been looking at any sort of media today, she will probably have guessed why we didn't make it" replied Luigi.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at home and got out of the van. "I'm gonna go walk into Toad Town and grab a few things, you ok to make that call?" asked Luigi.

"Sure, no problemo" he replied yawning.

"Okay, Ciao" he said walking down the path humming the tune that had just been on in the van.

Mario unlocked the door and headed inside. He threw his utility belt on the sofa then went to the phone and flicked through the nearby address book looking for the right number.

"Ah here we go" he said picking up the phone and dialling the number.

"Hello, Mrs Toadelle? It's Mario calling from 'Super Mario Bros Plumbing'. I'm sorry but we are going to have to reschedule our visit due to unforeseen circumstances. Yes, that's correct. Oh you watched the news earlier? Yes that's exactly why. Yes…she's fine. Yes… uh huh. Yes… okay then. Yes thank you. Okay then. Yes, Thursday would be fine. Nine thirty? Yes that's great. Okay then. Yes, uh… okay sure. Okay, no problem… I will. See you then… okay buh bye." He put the phone down and took a deep breath. "Man, that she toad can talk!" he laughed shaking his head.

"Okay, time for a nap" he yawned again heading towards his room.

Mario entered the room and made sure to lock the door behind him so he couldn't be disturbed as abruptly as he had been that morning. He shut the curtains, remembering how his brother had swung them open to wake him up earlier and grumbled slightly to himself. Mario sighed and jumped into his unmade bed and got himself comfortable. Within minutes he had nodded off and began snoring.

Some time had passed but it was uncertain how much. Mario awoke noticing his throat felt sore and then he suddenly let out a few coughs. The air felt thick and heavy making it hard to breath. Still half asleep, he examined the room which was pretty dark due to how thick the curtains were. His eyes came into focus slightly and he saw the outline of a dark figure stood by the door and a small flickering orange light.

"What the?" he said squinting, trying to make out what he saw.

He went to sit up but was pulled back as he realised his wrists were tied to the bed with ropes. He looked down and realised his legs were also restrained. He began to panic and struggle against the ropes to no avail.

"What the hell is going on?!" he snapped beginning to breathe quickly.

The figure emerged from the shadows to reveal a tall woman with long dark hair, porcelain white skin and a tight red dress that sparkled in the bit of light that could be seen in the room.

"Hello Mario" she said softly, holding a cigarette in her right hand. She took a puff and the end of the cigarette brightened for a moment revealing her beautiful yet cold blue eyes.

"P…Pauline? You're the one who came through that pipe..." Mario said stunned. He felt completely speechless and his jaw dropped. He hadn't seen Pauline since he'd arrived at the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yes, darling it is I. How have you been? I've been just great wondering where the fuck my boyfriend disappeared to. It's a shame I had to come through that cramped stinking pipe just to find out" She snapped throwing her cigarette to the floor and standing on it with her stiletto.

"I… I can explain" he said completely bewildered by what was going on at that moment.

"No need. When I got here I got the picture pretty quickly. It's hard to go anywhere around here without seeing posters of you everywhere… with 'her'." She spat.

"You mean Peach?" he asked carefully, subtly trying to undo the ropes as she spoke.

"Oh, that's her name is it? Well thank you for clearing that up for me. Answer me this Mario. Are you dating that tramp?" she asked stepping closer to Mario.

He started to feel a bit nervous at this point and started to pull at the knots in the rope faster but they were fastened tight.

"Look, Pauline… it's been a lot of years since I saw you. I couldn't go back, the people here needed me". He stuttered trying to reason with her.

"No Mario, I needed you. You made a fool out of me. I've been searching for you since you left and here you are with a whole new life, a whole new girl playing hero with a bunch of dinosaurs! What do you take me for?" she asked gritting her teeth.

"You got this all wrong Pauline, seriously. Just untie me and I'll explain everything okay?" he urged.

"I don't think so Mario. I've been suffering for years worrying about you and then you go and do this to me!? Did you even consider coming back just to let me know you had moved on? No of course you didn't you selfish bastard. All you thought about was yourself and that pitiful, spineless brother of yours. How is he by the way?" She hissed.

"Leave Luigi out of this Pauline, it wasn't his fault." He spoke up finding courage at the mention of his younger brother.

"But it was most definitely yours and I think it's time for some pay back, don't you?" whispered Pauline, sitting on the side of the bed by Mario starting to stroke his hair menacingly.

She sat smiling at him as if everything was perfectly fine. Mario could feel his heart beating faster and was praying Luigi would be home any second.

Mario could feel the rough ropes burning his wrists and ankles as they dug into him. He was tied securely and he wasn't going anywhere. Mario feared what was coming next as hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.