"Come on, Mario! He went down this way!" Mallow ran down the pathway.

"This is crazy. I'm supposed to be saving the princess, not chasing down petty crooks! I mean what's the odds that…"

"Har, har, har, that was quite a killing I made. Those rubes couldn't catch me in sleep. After all, I'm Croco, master thief!"

Mario went behind a bush. "Okay, Mallow, we just got hide right here. He doesn't see us here, so we'd keep the element of…"

"Hey, you!" Mallow ran out to confront Croco, while Mario did a facepalm. "Gimme back my grandpa's coin!"

"Oh, it's only you." Croco said. "Geeze, you sure are persistent. Lucky for me, you couldn't jump to save your life, kid. So, I guess this is goodbye!" Croco jumped up a nearby ledge and ran away.

Mario came out of the bush as Mallow looked sullen. Mario grabbed Mallow's hand and picked him up on his shoulders. "Hang on tight, we're gonna get that coin back!" Mario jumped off a nearby flower and jumped to the ledge. Then, Mario jumped across another gap aided by moving platforms.

"Thanks, Mario. I never would've done it without you!"

"Save it for after we get your coin back." Mallow nodded. The two of them ran up to Croco who was rummaging through his sack.

Croco turned around and jumped when he saw Mallow and Mario. "Oh! You're a persistant little bugger, ain't ya? And what, did ya bring your babysitter with you?" Mario was about to protest whan Croco continued, "No matter, I'm still 100 mile ahead of ya!" He ran off again. Mario and Mallow ran after him when a gang of Goombas came running out of the bushes. "Freeze suckas!" Mallow ran around them, and Mario jumped on top of one and propelled himself forward.

"I don't like what you did to my pals." A big frog came and ambushed them.

"Careful Mario!" Mallow said. "It's not called Bandit's Way for nothing!"

"I noticed, Mallow."

"We can do this the easy way…" The Goombas from before surrounded them. "Or we can do this the hard way."

"Okay," Mario said, grabbing his hammer. "Let's do this the hard way." Mario kicked the frog in the face and swung his hammer on the top of his head. Mallow them kept the Goombas away by slapping them away.

"Aw, man! They're too strong! Regroup!" The frog and the Goombas ran away.

"That wasn't too tough!" Mallow said, excited. "We still need to catch up to that crook!"

"I'm pretty sure he's long gone…"

"Come on, platform! Turn faster! They're on my tail!" Croco was trying to hit an item box by standing on another pair of rotating platforms, he leapt, and missed the box entirely. He was about to try again when he saw Mallow and Mario. "Would you just give up already? That item box is tempting, but now's not the time…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bunch of dogs on the other side of a fence. "Here!" He took a knife out of his bag and threw it at the gate. The dogs came pouring out. "Get the cauliflower and the guy with the stupid red hat!" They then went charging at the two while Croco escaped.

"What are we going to do Mario! They're coming right at us!"

Mario jumped to the platforms and waited for them to move under the item box. "Mario! Now's not the time to get treasure!"

"In my experiences, these boxes always have something useful!" He hit the box from the bottom and out popped a star. Mario jumped again and grabbed the star. Mario then started swirling with energy. "Try to keep up with me." Mallow nodded and Mario went charging through the pack. They bounced off him like a brick wall, while Mallow walked through the path made. By the time the star power ran out, Mario had defeated them all.

"That was amazing! With that kind of power, we'll get that coin back in no time! Mallow ran ahead in excitement. "End of the line, Croco!"

"Rrgh, it's a dead end! And they won't give up! I'll just have to hide." Croco ran off.

"Come on, he couldn't have gone that far!" After a few moments, Mallow caught up to him.

"Hah, your eyes are faster than your feet! At this rate, it'll take you 100 more years to catch me!" Croco ran off. Mallow got angry and started searching again. "Found me again, did you? Well, at this rate, it'll take you 50 more years to catch me!" Croco ran off and Mario grabbed his tail. "You again! This is getting real old! It'll still take you 25 more years…"

Mallow popped up behind Croco and yelled, "Enough! Now gimme back my coin!"

Croco, defeated, said, "All right, you caught me fair and square. I'll give you back your coin." He walked away and rummaged through his bag. He said under his breath, "Did you really believe me? I was… LYING!" He grabbed a bomb from his bag and threw it at Mallow. He flew backwards into a bush.

"Mallow! Are you okay?" Mario asked.

"Mommy, I think my train went swimming in the piano…" Mallow said dazed.

Croco laughed. "Looks like the kid is out. Which leaves you, red 'stache."

Mario grabbed his hammer. "This is your last chance. Give back the coin, and I won't have to hurt you."

"Har, har, har! You? Hurt me? Hah, you couldn't chase down a pumpkin! Now, you're saying you're a fighter too? Oh, that's rich!"

"I warned you!" Mario lept forward with his hammer, and only hit dirt. He then swung his hammer, wildly trying to hit Croco, but he was dodging every attack.

"Ha, you're slower than a hedgehog!" After every swing, Croco scratched him with his claws. "You'll have to be faster than that to even give me a splinter!"

Mario put down his hammer, and said, "I don't need to be!" He motioned to throw, and a huge ball of flame came flying at Croco. He ducked at the last second, and the fireball exploded behind him.

"Yeouch! Where'd that come from!" He realized that his tail was on fire and started running back and forth, desperately trying to douse the flame.

"How's that speed now?" Mario shot several more fireballs as Croco frantically tried to dodge them. There was just too much and Croco stopped to put out all his flames. As he did that, Mario grabbed his hammer and whacked Croco back. He bounced and fell on his back.

"Fine then! Take your grubby old coin! Adios amigos!" Croco ran off in a huff.

Mallow woke up. "Uggh, what did I miss!"

Mario explained, "I think I just got my fire power back."

Mallow lit up when he saw a brilliant green coin with a frog's likeness imprinted on it. "That's not all we got back! We got my grandpa's coin! Thanks a lot, Mario! I never could've got it without your help!"

Mario walked Mallow back down the path. "No problem, Mallow. Now, let's go back and get that thing that your grandpa wanted."