Prelude: Mushroom Kingdom Mornings

It was another morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town was bustling with activity, as all of the shops were opening up. In the distance, Peach's Castle loomed over the town. On the outskirts of the town, there was a house occupied by two brothers, the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario woke up as normal, bumping his head on the bunk bed, of which he shared with his younger brother, Luigi, who was already up making coffee for the both of them.

"Morning, bro," Luigi calls out from the kitchen upon hearing Mario's daily head injury.

"Hey, Lu," Mario groggily replies, stumbling his way to the kitchen. He was the kind of guy to not function in the morning until he had a large cup of coffee. Luigi was well accustomed to his brother's quirks, however, and instinctively handed Mario a mug, which he proceeded to down in one gulp.

"Wow!" Mario exclaims. "I'll never understand how you can make coffee this good."

"Well, it'll continue to be a secret for now."

Mario paused for a moment. He needed to tell his brother about his new girlfriend, but he was nervous. What if Luigi judged him? Or hated her? No, no. Luigi doesn't really hate anybody. Mario reassured himself that Luigi would love her, and he should probably introduce them already.

"Hey, Luigi?"

"What's up, bro? You seem bothered by something today."

"Remember Rogueport?"

"That sketchy harbor town with the ancient demon?"

"Exactly. Well, remember Vivian?"

"That shy shadow you helped?"

"Yeah. Well, you see, we're, um, we're..."

Mario kept stuttering. Why? He could take down endless bad guys without breaking a sweat, but telling Luigi about his new relationship was too much. The next thing Mario knew, he was red in the face and sweating. Luigi, however confused at first, quickly picked up on what his brother was trying to convey.

"You two are dating?" Luigi questioned. Mario let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he didn't have to explain it. The red left his face as he nodded in reply.

"I thought you and Peach were an item, though," was Luigi's next thought.

"Me too, honestly. I tried asking her out once, but she said that she could only ever see us as friends. Not long after, Vivian reached out to me again. We started talking, and after a while, she confessed to me. I mean, we're dating right now, but we haven't exactly... gone on an actual date yet. I actually don't think we've met in person in years."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"You think that's Vivian here to surprise you?" Luigi jeered. Mario rolled his eyes as he went to answer the door. His jaw dropped as he opened it. On the other side stood a purple figure. She had long flowing, cotton candy pink hair, and a red and white striped scarf. Vivian. Without hesitation, Mario hugged her with full force.

"H-hey Mario. I see someone's glad to see me."

"Completely," was the only word Mario needed to respond with.

Luigi, not knowing what was going on, went to the door, and upon seeing the two hold each other, he grabbed his hat, and said "Well, bro, you seem busy, so I'm gonna head out for today." So he left the two, and ventured out into Toad Town, kicking off a new adventure.