By swinging from tree branch to tree branch, the Mario gang was able to avoid being seen by Mouser and the Koopa Troopas. By sheer luck, they managed to make it ahead of the boy and girl that they were chasing. By this time, however, the two were beginning to slow down.
"I don't know if I can keep this up, sis!" the boy shouted, breathlessly.
"We have to keep running!" the girl shouted. "If we stop now, those terrible turtle-things will catch us!"
"Easier said than done! They're gaining on us!"
The two siblings immediately began running as fast as they could, not paying attention to where they were going. They were more focused on getting away. If they had been paying attention, the boy would have noticed a surfaced tree root directly in his path. Unfortunately, he missed it completely, and tripped over it.
"Whoa!" he shouted.
"Meeee-yoooowwww!" the cat he was carrying cried, as she went flying through the air. Luckily she landed on her feet. The boy wasn't so lucky, and he landed flat on his stomach.
"Franky!" the girl shouted, as she stopped and saw her brother fall, and she ran to him. "Franky, are you all right?"
"I think so," Franky said. "Only my foot's caught in this tree root! Keep going, those turtle things will be here any second!"
"No, I can't leave you here to be captured and taken back to that dragon!"
"It's not gonna do any good if both of us are captured! One of us has to get away and get help!"
The girl stood up hesitantly, and began running, but came to a dead end shortly afterward. She turned around, and saw the Koopa Troopas closing in on her brother. She knew if she went to help him, she'd only be captured herself.
"Oh, what am I going to do?" she asked.
"Hey, grab onto my hands, lady!" a high-pitched voice called out from above.
The girl looked up, and saw a little mushroom-person. His feet were being held by a mustachioed man in red overalls, who was in turn being held by the feet by a mustachioed man in green overalls, who was hanging onto the tree branch by his feet. It was the Mario gang, and they had formed some sort of ladder.
"Who . . . . or rather, what are you?" the girl asked.
"Never mind that now!" Toad shouted. "Just grab my hands!"
The girl immediately grabbed Toad's hands. Once she did, the Princess helped the group climb onto the tree branch.
"Thank you," the girl said. "But my brother . . . . he's still back there!"
"Don't worry, miss," Mario said. "I've got it taken care of!"
Mario pulled out his plumber's snake and swung back toward where Franky was surrounded by Mouser and the Koopa Troopas. The others followed behind him.
"Looks like it's ze end of ze line for you, little boy!" Mouser shouted.
"Who're you calling 'little boy,' limburger breath?!" Franky shouted, taking a handful of dirt and throwing it in Mouser's face.
"Aaaack!" Mouser shouted. "Zat does it! Get him!"
Before the Koopa Troopas could descend on the boy, the cat he had been carrying jumped in front of him with her back arched, ears flat, tail puffed up, fur standing on end, and claws bared. She looked directly at Mouser, and hissed at him.
"Oh no!" Mouser shouted, sarcastically. "Oh help! I'm being attacked by an itty bitty kitty cat in a cute little pink collar! Oh somebody save me! Save me from ze cute little kitty!"
Mouser began laughing hysterically at the thought of cute little kitty cat going to attack him. The cat growled, hissed, and jumped on Mouser, clawing at biting at him with such fury, even the Koopa Troopas were surprised, and a bit intimidated.
"Get zis fleabag off me!" Mouser shouted.
Franky took this moment to finally manage to get his foot free of the tree root. However, instead of running off, he just sat there, watching Mouser get pummeled by a cat.
"Psst! Hey kid!" a voice whispered.
"Who said that?" Franky asked, looking up, and seeing Mario standing on a tree branch, lowering his plumber's snake.
"I did," the mustachioed plumber said. "Quick, grab this!"
Franky immediately grabbed the snake, and climbed up the tree. Once he was safely on the branch, his sister pulled him into her arms, and gave him the biggest hug she could.
"Oh Franky!" she shouted. "I'm so happy you're all right!"
"Me too, sis!" Franky shouted, returning his sister's hug. Then he pulled away abruptly, and looked back down on the ground. "Wait a minute, what about Puffball?"
"Puffball?" Mario asked.
"She's my cat," Franky said. "And she . . . ."
Before Franky could continue, Mouser finally managed to shake the cat loose, and wound up flinging her into the tree, head first.
"Mee-yow!" the cat cried, too dazed to even move.
"I'll teach you, you overgrown cotton ball!" Mouser shouted, pulling a sword out, and walking toward the cat, ready to skewer her.
"Puffball!" Franky shouted, in extreme panic.
"Don't worry, paisano," Mario said. "I'll get your cat for ya."
Immediately, Mario jumped out of the tree, onto Mouser's sword, and then to the ground. When Mario jumped off Mouser's sword, it began vibrating.
"Hey, Mouser!" Mario shouted. "You got a lot of nerve picking on a poor, defenseless, little kitty! Why dontcha pick on someone your own size?!"
"You mean like you, you pesky plumber?" Mouser asked. "Troopas! Attack!"
The Koopa Troopas growled, and immediately ran toward Mario with their spears, ready to puncture Mario like a balloon.
"I can't look!" Luigi shouted, covering his eyes.
Before the Troopas could do anything, Mario grabbed a fire flower. In a flash, his red overalls and cap turned white, and his blue shirt turned red.
"It's Super Mario!" the Princess cheered.
"Now we're gonna see some real action!" Toad shouted.
Immediately, Mario began to throw fireballs at Mouser and the Koopa Troopas, as if his fingers were pistols. The Troopas immediately began panicking, and started their retreat.
"Now that's what I call having a hot time in the ol' town tonight!" Franky shouted.
Mario threw one last fireball, and it hit Mouser directly in the tail, which sizzled down directly to his rear end.
"YEEEEOOOOOWWWWW!" he yelled, jumping about five feet in the air. "Retreat! Retreeeaaat!"
"Yaaaaaahhhhhh!" the Troopas shouted, and they, along with Mouser, raced back to the mansion.
"And don't come back!" Mario shouted, picking up the cat, and petting her. "Imagine that big bully picking on a cute little gattina like you!"
"Meow!" Puffball cried happily, and she began licking Mario's face.
"Hey, stop that!" Mario said, laughing. "Cut it out already! What do I look like? A plate of tuna spaghetti? Come on, now, quit it!"
"She's just thanking you, Mario," the Princess said, as she and the others began climbing down the tree.
"Yeah, and I really appreciate it, too," Franky said, holding his arms open. Puffball meowed, and immediately jumped into them. She rubbed her head against her teenage master's, and purred.
"She's my best friend, after all," Franky said, pressing his cheek against his cat's, causing her to purr even louder. "I don't know what I'd do without her!"
"You're both welcome," Mario said, scratching Puffball behind her ears. Then he looked up at the tree branch, and found Luigi and Franky's sister were still sitting on it.
"You can come down now, Luigi!" he called. "The coast is clear!"
"You sure?" Luigi asked.
"Yeah, those Troopas flew the coop-a!" Toad shouted.
"All right, I guess," Luigi said, gulping slightly.
Before Luigi could get started climbing down, the branch broke, and he and the blond girl fell. Luigi landed right on his backside, and the girl landed right in his lap.
"Ooof!" he groaned, as his hat fell over his eyes.
"Sorry," the girl said, sheepishly.
"Glad you could drop in, sis," Franky said. "Ha, ha!"
"Very funny!" the girl shouted, glaring at her brother.
"Yeah, very funny!" Luigi shouted, pulling off his hat so he could see. Once he did, he turned to the girl. "And as for you, next time, wouldja watch where you're . . . . you're . . . ."
Luigi suddenly trailed off. This was the first time he was able to get a good look at this girl. Everything around him became hazy. This was quite possibly the prettiest girl he had ever seen. He found he couldn't look away from her, as if Mario and the others weren't even there.
"Ravishing ravioli . . . ." was the first thing out of his mouth.
"Excuse me?" the girl asked, a little confused.
"I mean . . . . . uhhh . . . . I mean . . . ." Luigi stammered, trying to stand up, but he had forgotten the girl was on his lap, so when he got up, she fell off.
"Oooh!" she shouted.
"Oh, uhhh, sorry about that," Luigi said. "Here, let me help you."
The girl took Luigi's hand, and the plumber felt a shiver run up his spine, though it was different than the usual shivers he got up his spine when he was crossing paths with Koopa and his army. The girl stood up, and looked at Luigi, and suddenly felt something strange herself. She found herself suddenly smiling at Luigi, and she couldn't seem to stop, or look away from him, or let go of his hand. She could almost hear the love theme from "Romeo and Juliet" playing.
"Thank you," she said.
"My pleasure, Miss . . . . uhhh, Miss . . . ." Luigi said.
"Phyllis," the girl said. "Phyllis Portobello."
"Phyllis Portobello," Luigi repeated. "That is a very lovely name."
"Oh brother," Franky mumbled under his breath, as he rolled his eyes. "Hey, Phyllis, can we cut out the disgusting, mushy stuff, already? I'm getting sick to my stomach here!"
"Oh, Franky!" Phyllis shouted, glaring at her brother with her hands on her hips.
"Anyway, thanks for helping us," Franky said, turning to Mario and the others. He knew he had to change the subject quick, before his sister had a chance to clobber him.
"Yes," Phyllis said. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't stepped in."
"Hey, no problem, ma'am," Mario said, tipping his hat. "All part of our job. We're the Mario Brothers. I'm Mario, and that's my brother, Luigi, whom you've obviously already met."
"Yeah, accidentally, that is," Luigi said. "Ah heh heh heh. Eeehhh."
"And I'm Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom," the Princess said. "And this is my friend, Toad."
"Hi," Toad said. "So why were those Koopa Droopas after you two, anyway?"
"Well, my name is Phyllis Portobello, and this is my brother, Franky, and his cat, Puffball," Phyllis said.
"Hiya," Franky said. Puffball meowed and nodded her head.
"And those creeps were after us because we were trying to escape from that awful King Koopa," Phyllis continued.
"And let me tell ya something, it's embarrassing having to escape from your own house!" Franky shouted.
"You live in the governor's mansion?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, our dad's the governor of Portobello Port," Franky said.
"At least he was," Phyllis said, looking down at her hands. "Before . . . ."
"Before Koopa showed up, right?" Toad asked. Phyllis nodded.
"What happened?" the Princess asked. "And where is the governor?"
"We don't know," Franky said. "He got a letter saying there was trouble elsewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, and several cities needed as many supplies as possible, so he had to take the whole fleet. Since this was such a big job, he took most of the guards with him, leaving only a few behind to guard the mansion. That's when ol' Dragon Breath showed up with his army."
"Not only were those turtle things with him, but he also had these weird birds that could shoot eggs from their beaks, but the eggs were more like cannon balls. And he also had mushrooms with sharp teeth, and another fleet of birds, short little guys wearing cloaks . . . ."
"Some of which wearing masks that could shoot bullets from them," Franky said. "And some that could fly. He also had walking bombs, and a three headed snake!"
"Leapin' lasagna!" Luigi shouted. "Sounds like Koopa brought his entire league of minions for this one!"
"No kidding," Mario said. "But let me ask you two something. If you're the governor's kids, couldn't you have done anything to stop him?"
"We tried," Phyllis said. "Unfortunately, Franky and I don't have as much pull as our father does . . . . or did."
"Yeah, we were pretty much sitting ducks," Franky said.
"When Koopa took over, he turned me into his scullery maid, and Franky into a stable boy," Phyllis said.
"And trust me, that's not a very glamorous job!" Franky shouted. "Especially after those turtle things overfeed them, which is pretty much every day. Not a pretty picture."
"Me-yeeccchhhh!" Puffball shouted, holding one of her paws over her nose to drive in the point.
"Yeah, I get the message," Toad said, looking a little green. "Pee-yew!"
"He's also turned everyone who lives here into slaves," Phyllis went on.
"What about your dad?" Toad asked. "What's gonna happen when he gets back from this trip of his?"
"That's part of the trouble," Franky said. "We heard there was this huge storm in Ocean World, and his ship got caught in it, and sank."
"We don't even know if Father is still alive or not," Phyllis said.
"How awful!" the Princess shouted.
"At least we managed to get away," Franky said. "But we don't know where to go for help now, since everybody left in town is a slave."
"Well then, it's a good thing you ran into us!" Mario shouted. "We're practically experts on Koopa extermination!"
"You are?" Franky asked.
"We are?" Luigi repeated.
"Sure we are!" Mario shouted. "After all the times we've dealt with him before, this shouldn't make much of a difference. We'll help you guys out!"
"You will?" Phyllis asked.
"We will?" Luigi repeated, sounding a little nervous. Before he could say anything more, Phyllis suddenly hugged him.
"Oh, thank you!" she shouted. "Thank you so much!"
"Eeeehhhhh . . . ." Luigi said, suddenly becoming weak in the knees. "You're welcome."