The first thing that Ridley noticed once he and Luigi had finally made their way out of town was a number of large brick cubes suspended in midair. Ridley had no idea why or how they were there but Luigi didn't seem to pay any attention to them so Ridley decided not to ask. Luigi did react, however, when they came up to a floating yellow block that had a white question mark on each side.

"Hey-a, do you-a mind if I get this one?" Luigi asked.

"Um, sure." Ridley tried to hide the fact that he had no idea what Luigi was talking about.

Luigi then ran up to the yellow question block and jumped with his fist held above his head, punching the block from below. The yellow block suddenly turned brown as it was hit, with the question mark completely disappearing and an orange and yellow flower sprouted out from the top. Luigi jumped up onto the mysteriously floating block and touched the flower, which seemed to dissolve at his touch as Luigi's clothes suddenly changed color. His green hat and shirt turned white while his blue overalls became green.

Ridley opened his mouth to ask what just happened but instead just mentally slapped himself for trying to question anything that happened at this point. He was long past being able to understand what was going on. Luigi hopped back down and the two continued walking.

"It-a looks like there are-a some Goombas up ahead." Luigi pointed out after a moment. "I'll use the power I just got from the Fire Flower on them."

Ridley looked up ahead and saw several small brown bipeds walking towards him. He had seen several of these creatures at Bowsers Castle and wondered why such seemingly harmless beings could possibly pose any sort of threat. He watched Luigi run up ahead and start throwing green fireballs from his gloved hands at the Goombas. Ridley had no idea how Luigi was able to seemingly create fire out of nothing, as even his own plasma breath required a fuel source which he stored in a specialized organ near his lungs.

Two of the Goombas were hit by the green fire and were sent flying back, blackened and unconscious. The remaining Goombas seemed completely unfazed by this and charged at Luigi, only to suffer the same crispy fate. Ridley thought that it was unfair that Luigi could cause so much carnage already when Ridley wouldn't be able to go all out without having to face the wrath of the space witch.

"You know, Mario, I-a feel like this-a gets easier every time." Luigi said as Ridley caught up to him. "Maybe it's-a just that I'm-a getting stronger."

"Sure it is." Ridley felt like that was the thing he should say and not that those were the most pathetic enemies that he'd ever seen. It was no wonder why Bowser had needed to hire Ridley to kill Mario if these were what is own followers were like. The fact that he even managed to maintain his title of King seemed surprising to Ridley. Although he was sure that Bowser probably had stronger minions as well.

The unlikely duo continued on their journey. Luigi easily defeated all of the Goombas that got in their way while Ridley didn't have to so much as lift a finger. They also came across several more yellow blocks like the one Luigi had punched earlier, though these ones only seemed to hold varying amounts of golden coins. Ridley liked gold, but he was a bit disappointed that he didn't get the opportunity to try out a fire flower for himself.

The path they followed eventually led them to a large stone castle, similar in design to the one Ridley staked out in to kill Mario. A sudden suspicion suddenly filled Ridley's mind. What if Luigi was just feigning ignorance about his true identity and was secretly leading Ridley into a trap to get revenge for his dead brother. Ridley eyed the man in green cautiously, as if sizing him up. If Luigi was planning something, he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Well, that-a was fast." Luigi said as he stopped outside the open doorway leading inside. "I-a can't believe we've-a already made it to-a the first castle."

"Yes." Ridley remained wary.

"Well, let's-a go inside!"

Luigi hurried into the darkened castle and Ridley followed, making sure to keep a safe distance from him. The castle's corridors were like a maze and there were Goombas lurking around every corner, but they were still no match for Luigi. Even the various traps and puzzles strewn about randomly were barely able to slow them down.

Eventually, they made their way into a large room, the layout of which Ridley recognized instantly. It was the same as the room that he had murdered Mario in, complete with the giant lava pit down below. This was all that Ridley needed to see to know what was about to happen. He lifted up his tail, ready to strike Luigi down in a single strike. Sure, he would have to deal with whatever consequences were in store for this but it was kill or be killed and Ridley had already been killed more than enough times before.

"WELL, WELL, WELL." A voice echoed through the stone chamber. "IF IT AIN'T DA MARIO BRUDDAHS."

Ridley looked up just in time to see a giant mass fall down onto the bridge right where Luigi was walking. Luigi was sent flying back into Ridley, his clothes returning to their original coloration. It was clear now that Ridley was wrong about the situation. Luigi didn't have some sort of ambush planned for him here. Bowser did.

Before them stood a giant Goomba, standing at a little over twice Ridley's height. It wore white and red striped pants around its torso, had a garish red and gold crown resting on its head and a thick white mustache that gave it an almost regal appearance. Overall the Goomba would have completely comical if it weren't the massive scar across its left eye, which was permanently transfixed on the space to his side in a glassy blue stare.

"OR SHOULD I SAY, DA SOON TA BE DEAD BRUDDAHS? MWAHAHAHAHA!"

"W-who are you?" Luigi's voice cracked as he asked the question.

"ME! WHY, I'M DA GOOMBA KING, OF COURSE! KING OF DA GOOMBAS! THE ONE DA GOOMBAS CALL KING! KING OF ALL THINGS GOOM! AND I AM HERE TA MAKE YA PAY FOR ALL THAT YOU'S DONE TO DA GOOMBAS! FOR TOO LONG YOU'S STOMPED US, YOU'S BURNED US AND YOU'S SLAPPED US WITH THOSE SILLY LOOKIN' RACCOON TAIL THINGS! BUT NO MORE! I'MMA START'N A REVOLUTION! A REVOLUTION DAT WILL PUT'S THE GOOMBAS IN THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE AT THE TOP OF THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM! AND THEN… THE WORLD!"

"Hey, wait. I-a remember you-a now." Luigi said as he got back onto his feet. "Mario's fought you once or twice before, haven't you Mario?"

"Um… sure." Ridley had no idea if that was true or not, but he went along with it.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" The Goomba King replied. "BUT THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT! THIS TIME, I WILL WIN!"

"What happened to your eye?" Luigi asked. "Mario never mentioned it being like that before."

"I SLIPPED WHILE PRACTICIN' MA DRAMATIC ARRIVAL FOR WHEN YA FINALLY SHOWED UP!" The Goomba King explained. "AND I FELL ON DAT AX OVAH THERE!"

The Goomba King used one of his feet to point to a large battle ax that was sticking out of the floor on the other side of the bridge from where Luigi and Ridley had entered. Luigi and Ridley both flinched squeamishly as they pictured it happening.

"I'm-a so sorry to-a hear that." Luigi said with full sincerity.

"HOW DARE YA TRY TA SYMPATHISE WIT' ME! DIS IS ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT!" The Goomba King yelled furiously.

"What? How is it our fault?" Luigi asked, flabbergasted by the sudden accusation.

"IF YA HADN'T TAKEN SO LONG TA GET HERE!"

"But, we got here as fast as we could." Luigi said defensively. "How long have you been waiting for us?"

"ABOUT FIVE YEARS!"

Luigi was stunned into silence. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything to say to that. Ridley was, if anything, even more confused by it. Even the Goomba King himself seemed to be confused, though that may have just been because of his bad eye.

"BUT ENOUGH CHATTAH!" The Goomba King exclaimed. "I HAVE USED DIS TIME TA FORMULATE A PERFECT STRATEGY TA DEFEAT YA, AND I HAVE TRAINED MY BODY TA DA ABSOLUTE PEAK OF PERFECTION! IT IS NOW TIME FOR ME TA REACH MA FINAL FORM AND EVOLVE BEYOND MA CURRENT LIMITATIONS! FOR DA GOOMBA KING, IT IS MORPHIN' TIME!"

The Goomba King's entire body began to glow bright white as radiant beams of light shone in every direction. Luigi and Ridley both had to cover their as the Goomba King transformed before them. Several minutes later, the light subsided as the metamorphosis was complete.

"BEHOLD! I HAVE NOW BECOME… DA PARAGOOMBA KING!"

The only noticeable difference of his transformation was that he had now grown a pair of wings that were barely big enough to support his weight. He hovered in the air pathetically before trying to charge at Ridley and Luigi. They both ducked out of the way easily, causing the Paragoomba King to crash into the floor behind them. Luigi and Ridley took this opportunity to simply walk across the rest of the bridge.

"Well, that was-a easy." Luigi said as they made their way into the next room.

"NOT SO FAST!"

They turned around to see the Paragoomba King standing directly behind them.

"Well… that… was… easy." Ridley said mockingly.

"YA MAY HAVE MADE IT PAST ME, BUT I STILL HAVE ONE LAST TRICK UP MA SLEEVE!"

"But you-a don't have-a sleeves." Luigi pointed out.

"Or arms, for that matter." Ridley added.

"HYAAA!"

The Paragoomba King did a spinning jump kick towards the wall, hitting a giant red button with his foot. Suddenly, the floor gave out underneath Luigi. Luigi screamed as he fell down the seemingly endless pit below.

"UH, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO WORK ON BOTH OF YA." The Paragoomba King said awkwardly to Ridley, who was standing right next to where the hole had opened up.

Ridley smiled. With Luigi now out of the way, he was now free to let loose a little. He opened his mouth up wide and unleashed a blood-curdling screech that echoed throughout the entire castle. The Paragoomba King shuddered and fell to the ground in fright.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?" The Paragoomba King asked, lying on the floor and shivering in utter terror.

"That was just a taste of what I could possibly do to you." Ridley smirked as he bent down to stare the Paragoomba King in the eye. "From now on, you will never take any action against me or this Fungus Kingdom."

"YA MEAN DA MUSHROOM KINGDOM?"

"That's what I said." Ridley's smirk turned to a menacing grimace.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT. I'LL DO IT! JUST DON'T HURT ME!" The Paragoomba King begged.

"Good." Ridley turned around and walked towards the hole Luigi had fallen down.

"I THOUGHT YA WAS SUPPOSED TA BE A HERO." The Paragoomba King said.

Ridley turned his head back towards the Paragoomba King. "And what good has that done so far. I'm changing my methods. Pray to whatever misshapen deity you worship that I do not change them any more."

With that, Ridley hopped down the hole so that he could regroup with Luigi wherever it led, leaving the Paragoomba King alone, crying. Perhaps Ridley had gone a bit too far, but it felt so good to finally lash out at something again that he couldn't really help himself. He tried to put the thought behind him as he reached the bottom of the long shaft and landed in a large underground cave.

"Oh, their you-a are, Mario." Luigi said excitedly. "You wouldn't happen to-a know where we are, would you?"