MONTHS AGO IN BROOKLYN …
Ding-dong!
The sound of heels accompanied the doorbell before the thick oak door was pulled open.
"Oh! The Mario Brothers!"
"Itsa me!"
"And a'me!"
Mario and Luigi both tipped their hats in unison to the lady that opened up the door. The woman, named Daniella Verducci, was in a high-level apartment in north Brooklyn, and had called the Mario Brothers to help settle some kind of clogging issue in her shower.
"Thank goodness you're here, Mario Brothers." Daniella said, Brooklyn accent evident, closing the door behind them. "I had been noticing somethin' weird going on with my shower for the last few days, a change of pressure! Now all a sudden there's nothin' comin' out of the shower head at all!"
"Don't worry, miss, we'll get that going real quick!"
"I hope so! Can't go to work without taking a shower! I won't get tips from tables if my hair is smellin' like an ashtray."
With that, the Mario Brothers walked back to the bathroom. This place was pretty high-end, with nice fabric furniture and really sleek looking tiles all over the place. Even the stairs were made of glass! How fancy.
The shower was pretty big, with a glass seperator and door. Mario opened the door, looking up at the showerhead by leaning into the shower.
"No kinda blockage on the showerhead."
"Think it's a pipe thing, bro?"
"If she had to call us, then I'd a'say so. Lemme get a'the bag, bro."
Luigi pulled the backpack filled with the Bros' plumbing supplies around to his front. He set it on the ground and started to rummage through it.
"You need a wrench?"
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I can a'screw this thing off with a'my hands." Mario stepped into the shower, his loafers squeaking on the wet tile.
As his brother was starting to twist the showerhead off, Luigi was pulling out some wrenches and other tools. As he got to the bottom, he perked up, discovering something he forgot was in the backpack.
"Oh! Bro! If there's something a'lodged in the pipe, we can use a'the pipe-vac!"
Mario pulled the showerhead off when it was unscrewed. "The pipe-vac? Luigi…"
"C'mon, work a'smarter, not a'harder!" The green plumber stood, taking the device out of the pack. "It's the only plumbing certified vacuum! I've never gotten to use it!"
"Because you bought it on a whim and stuffed it in the bottom of that a'pack." Mario eyed the vacuum, slowly flipping the showerhead in his hands. "Does mama know you brought that?"
"Well, no…" Luigi rubbed the end of his mustache. "But you know her! She doesn't like anything that isn't old-fashioned! C'mon, I really wanna use it, bro! Please?" He clasped his gloved hands together.
Mario tapped the wall of the shower, leaning against it with his eyebrows knitted. After a second, he sighed, gesturing a bit with his hand as he stepped back in the shower and spoke.
"Alright, alright. Knock yourself out."
"Yes! Wahoo!" Luigi said softly as he got the vacuum out with a grin. "This is gonna be so cool!"
The pipe-vac was small, mainly just a box connected to a small bag with the hose on the side opposite to said bag. There was a massive lever on one side of the device, the side Luigi kept opposite his hip, and had a strap that Luigi put around his chest to hold it.
Luigi stepped into the shower in front of his brother.
"You know, you kinda look a'like Nonna with that bag she would wear to our family reunions." Mario remarked, leaning to the side to look the pipe-vac up and down.
"Ha ha ha, bro." Luigi deadpanned. "You won't be making a'jokes when this vacuum solves the issue with this lady's shower super quick!"
He put the end of the hose over the shower's exposed pipe, using a little thumb slider to make it close around it for maximum effeciency. He flicked a small rocker switch beside the massive leaver, which made the machine start to whir to life, echoing through the bathroom.
The massive lever went either up or down, for two functions: suck or blow. Mario saw this and snorted, earning him an elbow from his taller brother.
Luigi pulled the lever upwards, with the vacuum starting to suck. The exposed pipe jiggled a bit from the suction, making the green plumber's eyebrows furrow. Mario put his hands on Luigi's shoulders, both for support emotionally and in keeping from being jostled around.
However, the vacuum stopped entirely after a moment. It was making noise like it was trying to suction, but nothing was happening. Luigi pulled the hose off the pipe, trying to peek into the shower pipe but seeing nothing but darkness.
"Is something stuck in it?" Mario asked, scratching his head under his hat.
At the suggestion, Luigi looked down at the hose end. Instinctively, however, he pushed the lever down- but went to far to turn off the hose entirely. Instead, he switched the vacuum to "blow".
Some kind of dark object- possibly rust buildup- shot out of the hose and hit Luigi in the nose, making him stumble back. Mario kept his hands gripping Luigi's arms, keeping him on his feet.
"Luigi! Are you alright?"
"Ugh… Yeah, I'm fine." Luigi checked his hand before rubbing his nose.
"Good… Good…" After a second, Mario snorted and started to chuckle. "Hey, looks like it did a'work after all!"
Luigi was flustered by his brother laughing. However, after a moment, he smiled a bit and started to chuckle too, finding the situation a little absurd as well. Mario patted Luigi on the back as the duo laughed in the shower over a job well done.
NOT TOO LONG AFTER …
Deep in the Toadwood Forest, there was a rumbling, before the end of a moss-covered Warp Pipe exploded when someone screaming was thrown through the pipe plug.
The backpack Luigi was wearing came through, but split open and scattered everything inside of it when he landed in the grass of the dark woods. Luigi jounced across the ground before coming to a crashing stop, landing on his face in the grass.
Passing through… wherever he was gave Luigi enough adrenaline to barely feel himself smash through the plugged up warp pipe. He'd feel it later, but right now, he felt as okay as he did before he was sucked into that massive green pipe.
Slowly, the green plumber stood up. He breathed heavily, with his breath the only thing heard through the sounds of insects, creatures and leaves rustling. The foliage was so thick that it was pretty dim where he was.
"M… Mario?" He asked out into the open, voice shaking. "M-M-M-Mario?"
Rustling from nearby made Luigi tense up, one leg bending up in shock. There wasn't any sign of anything nearby, but something was certainly there.
Luigi looked around again. He had read of forests that existed somewhere in the Metro Kingdom as a kid, but he'd never been to one- unless the concrete jungle of Empire City, where Brooklyn resided, counted.
Quickly, he got down and started gathering up tools for the backpack. The bottom of the backpack was split open at the seam- Mario would probably be able to sew it back together… if he ever saw him again.
Where was Mario? They lost one another when they were thrown through all that chaos. The last thing he really remembered before that was… well, a fight between the two.
"Cagacazzo… Che cavolo…" Luigi grumbled about his brother as he started piling things in his arms. "Thinking with his pants rather than… his head."
Luigi came across his hat, picking it up last. He still saw the L in the dim light of the forest, and seeing it reminded Luigi about how the hat and overalls were given to the brothers so that they would match at work, given to them by their mother (inspired by her own old work uniform) because of how close they were.
After being reminded of that, Luigi sighed deeply. It was a stupid disagreement for the brothers to have. Italians can be such schmucks sometimes… present company included.
A stick snapped nearby. Luigi physically jumped. "Gah!"
With everything in his arms, Luigi quickly ran away into the woods to find someplace where he couldn't be easily found by the things that go bump in the night.
The area went still after Luigi left. After a second, a light blue head poked from the bush to survey the small area around the broken Warp Pipe.
This creature was reptilian, with red bumps across its back, typically known for being green but able to be a multitude of colors- the underside of the creature was white. Standing on two legs, two other limbs were tucked up in front of its chest. As it surveyed the area, the creature said the name of its kind.
"Yoshi?"
The light blue yoshi carefully walked into the grass, looking around slowly. It had been watching Luigi, attracted by the sound of the Warp Pipe being broken, but was too scared to try and confront the mysterious biped head-on just in case.
However, now that Luigi was gone, the yoshi was able to investigate what was going on.
Softly, the sound of wind attracted the yoshi to the broken Warp Pipe. It tilted its head as it looked over the broken pipe, studying it.
It leaned over the pipe, looking in, before leaning into the pipe to try and look further.
The light blue yoshi was sucked into the warp pipe to places unknown.
MONTHS LATER …
Honestly, after the first few panic attacks about the dark unknown of the forest, Luigi found peace within the woods. He totally got why people went on wilderness retreats back in the Metro Kingdom now.
The backpack that had split open was now fixed with the duct tape he had. It was a temporary fix, but when he saw Mario again, he'd ask him about sewing it back to normal.
Right now, the pack was empty, as Luigi was using it to collect mushrooms.
These mushrooms, red and white, where the biggest mushrooms he'd ever seen. He had been eating them for the last few weeks after witnessing a few of those reptile creatures eating them- that's how he knew they were safe, that's survival 101.
He wasn't exactly thrilled to be eating mushrooms again, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
As he heard rustling, he hid in the leaves of bushes nearby.
Luigi became pretty good at hiding from things during his stay. He wasn't exactly scrawny, but he found himself pretty good at making himself scarce at the very first sign of trouble. Hey, if it worked in high school, it worked in any scenario.
Peeking through the leaves, Luigi found the noise culprit: a goomba. He didn't know it was called that, but that's certainly what is was.
The brown creature waddled into the open area, looking around for prey. While this creature was easily dispatched by his brother far away, to Luigi this thing could've been dangerous- poisonous, vicious, any of it. He was in unknown territories, and who knows what could happen if he tried hurting this thing.
Suddenly, a tongue stuck out and grabbed the goomba before the creature was yanked into the open maw of a yoshi. Luigi nearly jumped in surprise, not seeing the yoshi nearby.
These creatures really fascinated Luigi. They seemed abundant in the thick forests, and whenever Luigi saw one, they were always just… hanging around. They never seemed to be doing anything outright malicious. These creatures ate, walked around, ate some more… sometimes Luigi would catch them sleeping.
That doesn't mean they weren't carnivores though. Case and point: how they loved to eat goombas. Yoshis and goombas were the two creatures Luigi saw in the jungle the most.
This specific yoshi (Luigi himself still didn't know the name of these creatures) was green in color, with three red spikes on its head almost in the form of a mohawk. The yoshi licked its chops after eating the goomba. It looked around again before trotting off back into the brush.
Luigi counted to ten before sighing with relief. He stepped out from the bushes and sarted to walk back to where he had his shelter- he simply followed the light he could see peeking between the trunks of many different trees.
The plumber's torch he had was a lifesaver. Without it, Luigi wouldn't be able to create a fire.
Light flickered through sticks and leaves as the small fire was preserved within the small lean-to made for shelter. Stuck in the woods for the last few months, Luigi had made himself a small home in the sanctity of a large tree.
Though a little anxious about leaving fire out in the open near brush, since it was a little one, Luigi knew that there was a very small possibility that it will set everything on fire. He'd done it a few times before, anyway. It certainly was easier than having to extinguish and turn that torch back on.
Luigi dumped the mushrooms out into the grass nearby, within a nook made between two roots of the tree. He sat down, staying next to the fire with his plumbing torch behind him.
He didn't have a pan, so he was going to use the next best thing: a skewer. He had made a little spear out of a thick branch using a sharp rock he found, and was going to use it to kebab a few mushrooms to cook it over the fire.
Cooking mushrooms tasted better than uncooked ones, that's for sure. It wasn't much, but it was certainly something. Luigi was actually surprised when he ate these mushrooms the first time- they made him feel so much stronger. It was like he hadn't eaten anything in a few days.
Sticking three mushrooms on the skewer, Luigi set the stick down on two other sticks for a makeshift spitroast. He sighed, remembering his time back in Brooklyn. He used to have pasta almost every night with his mom and dad (when he wasn't working), sometimes pasta Luigi made himself. Now he was stuck eating these mushrooms every night.
It could be worse, he knew that. But it's hard to try and live without everything you used to have.
Luigi slowly twisted the stick to rotate the mushroom over the fire and roast them equally.
"Weeeeeee." He murmured sardonically, enjoying the "fun" he was having while camping out.
The smell of cooked mushrooms radiated within the area, much like other times before.
The green plumber wondered what his brother was up to right about now. It had been a long time since he'd seen him- Luigi had tried, and failed, to get himself out of these seemingly endless woods. Luigi would always try, but then turned around, or have to run another direction to escape a goomba or a few yoshis. It was an endless nightmare.
He had seen the pipe he came through a few times during his scavenging trips through the woods. Nothing had changed about it, so there weren't any signs of anyone coming through it. Luigi still heard wind blowing gently through the broken pipe end from suction, so he knew it was still active.
One thing was for sure: he was not going through that thing again. Who knows where he would end up next? Somewhere even worse than here?
He also kept going back to that last conversation he had with Mario. It was easy to regret, but what Luigi found was harder was to accept that they both messed up in that situation. Luigi shouldn't have brought up Pauline- she was his friend too, and it was low of him to insult both his brother and her for his assumption that Mario was working near that green pipe purely out of romantic interest.
However, Mario was being a jerk. He got his temper from their mom, and his penchant for immediately resorting to doing anything by himself after the tiniest bit of pushback from their dad. Luigi knew Mario didn't mean the whole "if you don't like it then don't work here anymore" but he still said it. It would be nice if he apologized for it.
Luigi knew that his brother probably felt bad for what happened. Mario was tenderhearted under all that… everything, he was always the first to apologize when they would fight as kids.
But something peculiar happened to Luigi as he spent time in isolation. Back in the day, when they were kids, Luigi would always dwell over what would happen between him and Mario. It would cause him to be a little mopey for a few days, and stay with him even after he accepted it.
And now he was here. Stuck away from his brother in the middle of nowhere, constantly evading danger at every point and turn. It made him realize how stupid those fights were. How dumb it was to keep that with him, constantly.
The green plumber took a bite out of the roasted mushroom on the bottom of the skewer.
Those feelings were valid for him, but they were so… insignificant. Luigi just hoped that Mario felt something similar, maybe realizing how dumb it was to not talk to Luigi about something instead of just dragging him into a random job.
Again, could be worse. There could be ghosts. Luigi hated ghosts.
A rustling came from shrubbery nearby. Luigi paused, his open mouth inches from the mushroom.
The bushes rustled again, and again. After a second, something green pushed through the leaves, the familiar sound of sniffing heard after it did so.
It was the yoshi, the same one from before- green with three red spikes on its head. The eyes and head of the yoshi poked into the shelter as they followed their nose to the scent of cooked mushrooms.
Luigi's eyes met the yoshi's as its head came in, still paused with his mouth hanging open.
This dinosaur creature was… not that horrifying up close, to be honest. From far away, they seemed kinda smooth, but finally up close Luigi could see that these creatures had small feathers making up the colored parts of its body. The white parts of the dino were smooth, maybe with scales, but the green parts of this yoshi looked fluffy- almost like wool. Luigi had read once that dinosaurs back in the day were supposed to be feathery, it seemed that was mostly accurate.
The yoshi licked its chops again, still clearly hungry even after eating that goomba. And yet… it didn't make any move to eat Luigi.
Slowly, the plumber closed his mouth. After a small staredown between the two, Luigi was certain that this creature would most likely not eat him… if he provided the dino with some food.
Keeping his eyes on the yoshi, Luigi reached to the top end of his skewer. He pulled off the untouched mushroom at the top, still moving slow, and then reached it out to the yoshi to offer the mushroom to it.
It barely took a second before the yoshi shot out its tongue, grabbing the mushroom with it and yanking it back into its mouth. It swallowed the thing whole. Luigi, hand now covered in dino saliva, recoiled a bit out of shock.
The yoshi made a noise that could be considered happiness. "Yoshi!"
It shot out its tongue and hit Luigi in the face, terrifying the plumber momentarily before the tongue went back into its owners mouth. The yoshi scooted back, leaving the shelter. Luigi could see that it looked around, perked up almost like a meercat, before quickly leaving the area.
Luigi wiped his face with his sleeve. Did it just… lick him?
That could've gone worse! Luigi was grateful that thing didn't eat him. Maybe it'll tell all its dino buddies that Luigi isn't food… then again, he dreaded the idea that dozens of those dinos would be stopping by to be fed by him night after night. There wasn't enough mushrooms in the forest for that.
He continued to eat. Maybe the forest wasn't too bad after all. Then again, it would probably be a long while before he actually left the shelter and stayed out in the open. Maybe that yoshi was nice, but who knows how the others were.
Now down one cooked mushroom, Luigi continued to eat until the skewer was empty. He kicked some dirt into the fire to extinguish it.
The torch didn't have too much juice left in it. Luigi needed to find a way out of the woods… no fire meant he didn't have a shelter, not to mention no warmth on especially cold nights. Maybe it would be best if he moved on from this spot and set up shelter somewhere else.
The notion made him a little sad, as he just apparently befriended that yoshi, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
He hadn't used the other plumbing tools he had, so they were dirty but otherwise pristine. Luigi counted them back as he stuffed them back into the tape-mended bag. Eventually, he came across one of the larger objects: the pipe-vac.
Luigi held it in his hands, looking it over. He hadn't really used it since that accident during the shower job- not out of embarrassment, but because he always forgot it was in his pack. He pressed a button on the side, seeing the battery was still fully charged. Untouched and ready to go whenever.
He sighed and stuffed it back into his backpack. Maybe he'd find another use for it out here.
The torch was last. Luigi kept it on top so he could pull it out first for later- it was very valuable, he wanted to make sure he could find it right away.
It was getting late, however. He'd look for something in the morning, when he was rested. It was still around dinner time (he suspected, there wasn't much light coming through the leaves above him) but if he got sleep now, then he'd be up earlier than the animals around the forest.
Luigi laid himself down on the makeshift bed he had- a lot of leaves. He hugged himself to keep warm as he closed his eyes to rest for the night.
He tried to think of something to comfort him so he could go to bed quicker. Maybe he could think about being back home… eh, that had varying results. In all honesty these leaves were a better bed than the one he had upstairs at home with Mario.
Life in Brooklyn was moderate for Luigi. Don't get him wrong, he'd prefer it over being stuck and scared in the woods like he is now, but when living in Brooklyn he felt like he wasn't living to his fullest.
Anxiety had been instilled into his very being since he was young. There wasn't some inciting incident either- he was a wimp when he was a kid, and then became a very easily frightened adult. Mamma Mario said that Luigi acted a lot like her father-in-law, Luigi's paternal grandfather Pierluigi Mario, who Luigi was ironically named in honor of.
Yay.
He never saw Nonni Pierluigi outside of family reunions, and during those Luigi would always watch his Nonni out of interest of what he could be like in the future. He was quiet… pretty quiet. His wife (Luigi's Nonnina, Norina) did a lot of talking for him. She also stuck up for him a lot. Was that Luigi's future? Getting married to someone more outspoken and letting them do all the hard things for him?
Because he was totally down for that.
Luigi shuffled a bit more. He was getting existential now. His mind always wandered when he was trying to get to sleep, he needed to reign it back to comfort.
He wondered how Pauline was doing. As a guy who liked staying to himself, Luigi only had few friends: his twin brother, their neighbor Pauline, and Tony from the golf club. After high school, Tony left to pursue golf as a pro, so Mario and Pauline were really all he had left in Brooklyn.
It was her request that they go into the sewer to figure out what was going on with the plumbing system. All things considered, Luigi didn't want Pauline to be stricken with guilt over what happened (though, knowing her, she unfortunately would). He just hoped she didn't let Mamma Mario know that it was technically her fault they ended up through that pipe or Pauline would end up with a wooden spoon across the nose.
Okay, thinking clearly wasn't helping him feel comfortable. Time to just keep his mind blank and try to sleep that way. It felt like it was only a few minutes, but Luigi knew it was closer to twenty or thirty.
He kept his mind blank, drifting in and out of sleep for a few hours, the forest still as dim as it was in the daytime as the sky turned dark. Luigi snored, his mustache fluttering with his lips as they fluttered with every slow exhale.
Then he heard the scream.
It wasn't a human, that's for sure, it sounded like an animal. It made Luigi's entire body shiver itself out of his sleep. He flung himself to a sitting position, hands gripping the leaves under him.
He looked around. The scream sounded far away… good. That means whatever was hurting something else wasn't anywhere near him.
Then again, who's to say that when that thing eating the screaming creature was gone, it wouldn't immediately track down Luigi right afterwards? The area was still warm from the extinguished fire after all.
Luigi had to leave. Now.
He quickly grabbed his backpack and swung it over one shoulder, rushing out of the shelter and knocking the wall of it over to leave no trace that he was even there. Luigi hustled through the trees and leaves to get as far away from that area as possible.
Though he didn't know where he was going, anywhere was better than here. Unfortunately for him, his lack of luck from the last few months was just starting to catch back up with him.
His loafers slid through the grass as he came to a stop in an opening. In the twilit area, he saw the source of the scream: something was caught by a plant. This plant was massive, with a very long stem ending with a red and white bulb that had teeth. This was a Piranha Plant- not only a Piranha Plant, but a very rare variation called an Elasto-Piranha, characterized by its extended, prehensile stem. But Luigi didn't know either of those things.
Wrapped in this stem was a yoshi, the source of the scream. It wasn't any normal yoshi though, it was the three-spiked yoshi that Luigi had seen and fed earlier. It was trapped by the planet, vines constricting its legs and part of its body.
Luigi was frozen in fear for a few seconds. Both the yoshi and plant were so caught up in the other that they didn't even notice that the plumber had entered the area.
The yoshi chomped down onto the stem of the Elasto-Piranha, making the creature roar in pain and unbind the dino. When the yoshi fell down to the ground, it very quickly encased itself in an egg- white with green polka dots. Luigi was snapped out of his trance by that, wondering how the dinosaur was able to put itself into an egg like that.
However, unfortunately, being in an egg meant that the yoshi would be easier eaten. The Elasto-Piranha lowered its head down, slowly opening its mouth to reveal the row of incredibly sharp teeth it had in its mouth.
This was Luigi's chance to make his exit. This plant wouldn't be torn away from stationary prey.
But… the yoshi was nice. At the very least it didn't eat Luigi after he fed it. In fact, it even licked him… if that was licking. After a few steps, Luigi paused, looking back to the yoshi and the plant, the latter starting to wrap around the egg like it was a snake.
It wasn't right. He couldn't just leave the yoshi here to die. Hands shaking, Luigi put the other strap of his pack on and quickly sprinted to the plant.
Back in the day, in high school, Luigi had helped Mario with his attempt to get into sports. During this, Luigi had learned a lot of things about football, like tackling and diving. At one point, Mario wanted to see how he would handle a tackle, and instructed Luigi to do one to him. Luigi, unathletic as he is, quickly discovered two things: he didn't know what a tackle was, and that hitting someone with your head dead-on can really hurt them.
So Luigi did that move again, now, years later. Unknowingly fueled by the supplement of a Super Mushroom, Luigi launched off the ground head-first, almost like a torpedo directed at the plant's bulb head. He hit dead on, hard enough to knock the plant away from the egg. The stem unraveled from the egg, flipping it to the ground on its side.
A crack appeared on the side. The yoshi inside peeked out to watch what was going on.
Luigi landed on his stomach, getting up and rubbing his head. He turned in time to see the Elasto-Piranha reeling back, wanting to snap at the plumber like a snake. Luigi yelped and twisted his body in time to miss the snapping jaw of the plant as it tried to bite him.
From the side, with his hands in fists, Luigi quickly barraged the plant's head with many (weak) punches, almost in a windmill formation as he moved forwards.
It didn't do much, as the Elasto-Piranha quickly whipped around and smacked Luigi's body with its stem. It reared back again, but before it could lunge and bite Luigi, the plumber was pulled back by the yoshi. The dinosaur had broken from its shell, and grabbed Luigi's arm with its tongue to snatch him back and away from the planet.
After Luigi got steady on his feet, the yoshi slapped his face with its tongue again- another lick. The dinosaur was happy, very obviously smiling. It thanked Luigi for his bravery: "Yoshi!"
The plant wasn't finished. It snaked around and lunged at the two of them, ending their moment together. They split up, and the Elasto-Piranha went after its prey, the yoshi.
When it lunged at the dinosaur again, the yoshi quickly fell backwards and encased itself in an egg again, rolling back quicker than it could run. The yoshi broke free, and jumped in the air to dodge the next lunge of the Piranha Plant. The yoshi wildly kicked and thrashed in the air- the fluttering the yoshi did allowed it to propel itself into the air further, somehow. Luigi watched in awe.
The awe turned to horror as the Elasto-Piranha quickly looped the yoshi in its stem, making the dino wail in pain from the constriction. The plant started to slowly wrap around the yoshi again.
Luigi rushed forwards, using the moves he watched Mario learn in defense class to deliver a knifehand jab into the stem of the Piranha Plant. His enhanced strength allowed this strike to actually break the surface, his fingers buried into the stem. The Elasto-Piranha let out a small roar of pain, whipping around to look down at the plumber.
Quickly, smaller vines started to wrap around Luigi's hand. The plant was intent on keeping him there. Luigi put his foot on the stem to try and pull himself off, but found that it couldn't work. He had to get the vines off of him- any sharp material that was in his backpack was towards the bottom. The only thing he could get on top was the torch.
Yes, the torch! Luigi quickly retrieved his plumber's torch, holding it in the crook of his elbow to turn on the gas. The torch shot out hot air and fire, which Luigi directed to the stem of the plant.
The plant shrieked in pain, letting go of Luigi and whipping around to knock him back with its singed stem. Luigi tumbled backwards, his pack staying intact, the torch still in his hand. He got up quick, readjusting his cap on his head.
The thing still had the yoshi. It wasn't going to stop until it chewed on something really unpleasant, or it was burnt again. Or… both.
Luigi looked at the plumber's torch in his hands, feeling the cool metal of the gas canister. He had used it for fire- if he gave it up now, then if he kept looking for a way out, he'd be bereft of both warmth, and even worse: he wouldn't have a lot of light.
The yoshi wailed again. Luigi gripped the torch tightly, knowing what the right thing to do was.
He rushed forwards, holding the torch in both hands. Luigi leapt up, mimicking what the yoshi did, kicking his legs quickly to scuttle upwards further than he would normally do- and weirdly enough, it actually worked.
Just in the nick of time, as the plant lunged forwards to chomp on the dinosaur, it instead sunk its teeth into the torch. It recoiled, making Luigi let go of the appliance. As he fell, he passed the yoshi; Luigi grabbed the dinosaur's feet and physically pulled it out of the grasp of the confused plant.
The momentary pause in falling allowed the plant to sink its teeth into the torch with a powerful munch of its jaws. As it did, the grinding of metal created a spark that ignited the torch. A small explosion rocked the otherwise peaceful Toadwood Forest, the force of the blast rocketing Luigi down into the ground.
He felt dizzy. The adrenaline he was using to help the yoshi quickly drained, and he felt more tired than ever- he also felt his eyebrow stinging. With fluttery eyes, he watched the perfectly fine yoshi trot over to the now headless Elasto-Piranha. It leaned down, grabbing the top end of the stem with its teeth. It sucked the stem of the plant into its mouth like it was eating spaghetti, before swallowing it whole.
After, the dino trotted over to yoshi, bending down to look at Luigi curiously. It tilted its head and spoke to him.
"Yoshi?"
No dreams plagued Luigi's slumber. When he woke up, he was in a cave surrounded by eggs and water.
It was a bit chilly. He heard a small breeze coming in as he came to, before realizing he was somewhere else. Luigi didn't sit up fast, still aching, but found he was alone in the area. Those eggs around him were familiar- it was the same kind of dotted egg that the yoshi turned into before.
His backpack was nearby, zipped up. It wasn't zipped last he used it, so someone either went through it or just simply zipped it back up. Luigi got to his feet, picking up the pack and swinging it back around him.
Luigi's eyebrow throbbed. He went to the nearby still water, leaning over to see what was wrong- there was a small cut on his right eyebrow aligned with his pupil, just the size of his bushy eyebrow. He must've gotten that from the shards of the explosion; Luigi was lucky that was the only thing the shards hit on him. The cut wasn't bleeding, but it wasn't patched up either.
He heard murmurs from outside, where the light was coming in. It was almost like people talking… getting his hopes up a little, Luigi gripped the straps of his backpack and quickly walked to the opening of the cave.
The source of the sound wasn't people, it was yoshis. There was a whole community of yoshi, dozens of them that were walking around in an opening that had a waterfall at the very end. The trees inside the opening were apple trees, which were being picked off and eaten by smaller, baby yoshis held on the saddle-like backs of adult yoshi.
Luigi stood there in awe, seeing all the dinosaurs trot around.
"Yoshi!"
The three-spike yoshi was nearby, spotting Luigi walking out. The familiar dino came over and slapped Luigi with its tongue for a familiar lick. Luigi didn't expect it to happen, but wasn't put off by it anymore, knowing that's how the yoshi showed him affection.
After the green yoshi came up, yoshis of all colors followed to gather around Luigi, clearly encouraged to do so by seeing Luigi's yoshi friend greet him so warmly.
"Yoshi!"
"Yoshi!"
"Yoshi!"
"Yoshi!"
"Whoa, whoa! Mamma mia!" Luigi said, feeling the yoshis all nudge him happily. "Hello, hello! What are you guys anyway?"
"Didn't you hear them? They're yoshis."
The human voice came from Luigi's side. He didn't notice the odd one out because of the outfit he was wearing. It was a Toad, one of the Toadstool Peoples, wearing a life-sized yoshi outfit. Clearly hand-knitted, the head of the toad was present right under the yoshi's snout, letting the Toad's mushroom cap make up the dino's normally enlarged snout.
Luigi yelped at the imposter yoshi. Then he yelped again, not knowing what a Toad was.
"Hey, hey, calm down man." The cosplaying Toad said calmly. He had a perpetually phlegmatic nature, it seemed, his eyes half-lidded. He looked at one of the other yoshis in the group, "Yoshi."
"Yoshi!"
The group of yoshis, minus the three-spiked green one, all trotted away from Luigi.
"Who… Are you?"
"I'm Toadshi."
"Okay… What are you?"
"I'm a Toad. You don't look like a Toad. I'm guessing you're new to the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Mushroom… Kingdom? I-Is that a'where I am?" Luigi looked up and around.
"Yuh-huh." Toadshi nodded slow. "This place is populated by people who look like me, so get used to it, buddy. Except they don't wear a yoshi costume like I do."
"W-Why are you even a'wearing that?"
"To blend in, duh. I was once a researcher in Mushroom City- most populated city in the Mushroom Kingdom- but I wanted to prove the existance of the legendary dinosaurs that live out here. Those dinos were yoshis!"
"Yoshi!" The familiar yoshi cheered.
"I was gonna bring back my findings, but… I can't expose these guys to the world. They're peaceful here. Next thing I know they'd build some camping grounds here or something." Toadshi scratched under the three-spike yoshi's chin. "They trusted me, too. They're smarter than I thought, they knew I was a Toad the whole time, but they let me stay here with them because they know I'm trustworthy."
Luigi watched Toadshi, his gaze following the Toad as he (like a yoshi) trotted over to stand with the community behind him. Toadshi, still looking relaxed, was grinning.
"The yoshi, as I've found, are creatures who have been here for centuries." He said to Luigi. "They originate from Yoshi Island, appropriately named, which is somewhere south from here… I haven't really found an exact location yet, but I've been there. They come here, to the Mushroom Kingdom, for safety during the winter- though they've been here a few months past it this time. They lay their eggs here before they leave, where there aren't any predators, to hatch when they return next winter. Regardless of how long they stay, they're mostly here to keep watch over the Super Happy Tree."
"Super Happy Tree? What's that?"
"Lemme show you, man. Yoshi!"
At Toadshi yelling out to the pack, all the yoshis looked at him before walking to the waterfall. The pool at the base of the the water fall was only ankle-deep, and when the dinos all hopped into the water they didn't sink. They walked to the waterfall, looking up.
At the top of the waterfall, sitting on a rock in the water was a big yoshi- not big in sense of stature, but chunky. The hefty yoshi reached over and grabbed a tree, and slammed it down at the edge of the waterfall. The water split, splitting the waterfall in half and creating an opening to a secret cavern.
Luigi stood at the edge of the pool, watching the waterfall open. He was nudged by the three-spiked yoshi, who wiggled its body to invite Luigi onto its saddle back. Luigi sat sidesaddle on the yoshi, letting it carry him into the cavern.
Different crystals glimmered in the sunshine on the walls. The water that came in from the pool created a brook that led further and further in. The yoshis all split up to walk alongside the brook.
While he was riding the yoshi, Luigi looked around, seeing as they went further and further inside that the walls became covered in roots- not just roots, but vegetation. Flowers, mushrooms of all colors. He was amazed at how things could grow without sunlight.
They soon came to their destination deep in the cafe. Luigi felt warmth in the cool cavern, and light hit his face, making him wince a little before looking directly at the object of interest.
It was a tree. A massive tree, with a trunk of multiple colors. There was grass on the ground around it, with the roots of this tree seen peeking out, all with more flowers and mushrooms on them. But it didn't stop there: there were other things on this tree too besides just those. Mushrooms with propellor caps, pairs of cherries, apples with elephant trunks, striped leaves… all with eyes. The most prominent thing was a big red fruit shaped like a heart with a big smiling face on it.
The yoshis, save for Toadshi and Luigi's yoshi, all trotted down to surround the tree in a big circle. They swayed slowly, all smiles, and started to sing a three-note song. What they were saying sounded almost like "the apple," or "be careful," or a very raunchy thing that Luigi would rather not think about.
"The Super Happy Tree is a plant that the yoshis have been protecting since day one." Toadshi said. "It's a magic tree created by the first Power Star that crashed onto the planet, on Yoshi Island. The tree's crop are full of magic power, used to grant special abilities to those who need it, if they harness them."
"Is… Is that a bell with cat ears?" Luigi pointed to the golden bell on one of the branches. Every time the clapper in the center hit the inside of the bell, instead of ringing, it let out a little "meow".
"The crop changes with the times, and what people of the world need." Toadshi continued. "This isn't the Tree, obviously, as the main one is on Yoshi Island. But the Super Happy Tree extends its roots to grow other trees in significant parts of the world, acting as relays to detect the mood of the world and her people. Though this also means its crop does pop up in very peculiar places…"
"So there's a'one here?" Luigi asked, getting off his yoshi to watch the other sing.
"Yeah. The Mushroom Kingdom's been in strife ever since it closed down its borders a few decades ago. That's another reason these guys migrate here for the winter, because the Mushroom Kingdom has the largest tree here second to the original Super Happy Tree! They need the help."
Luigi kept watching. After a second, he felt a poke to his backside- his yoshi friend was nudging him forwards, towards the tree.
"Ah! What're you…?" Luigi looked to Toadshi for an answer.
"You wanna know how the yoshis knew how to trust me? Because the yoshis are all natural empaths. They can sense you're in turmoil… that you're hurting inside."
"…yeah. I… Lost a'my brother. I don't know where he is."
"The yoshis want to help. Especially after you helped them. Go, touch the tree, and think about what would really make you happy."
Luigi was hesitant, but with another pokey nudge from his yoshi friend, he started walking to the tree. The circle of yoshis, still singing, parted to let Luigi through.
He reached the tunk of the tree, and Luigi gently reached out to touch it with his gloved hand. He continued to hear the singing behind him, almost soothing him from the butterflies in his stomach.
As he felt the warm trunk of the tree, almost like it was bathed in sunlight, Luigi sighed. He closed his eyes. What would make him the happiest right now?
If he was back in Brooklyn, eating some spaghetti probably. Or maybe if he was on the beach. Maybe watching those crazy spooky televisions series he really loved. Anything, anything than being here. Anything besides what happened.
You know what would really make him happy, even being stuck here? If he was with his brother.
As that thought came to his mind, suddenly, the ground shook. He stepped to the side and watched as a root came up from the ground, burrowing across the soil and creating a bump that continued far past the yoshis, over the small hill that led to the outside.
After that happened, the yoshis changed their tune- literally. They started singing a five-note tune cheerfuly, dancing around with each other. Luigi's yoshi friend started hopping with excitement. The pack of yoshis all trotted quickly out of the cavern- the plumber followed quickly, though had to step through the water in order to join the group in the small open field.
The root was leaving the area completely, somewhere to the left, past the trees. The yoshi continued to sing, given deep backing vocals from the big yoshi at the top of the waterfall also singing.
Luigi scratched his head under his cap.
"The yoshis are here to help people who are sad." Toadshi said, coming up next to Luigi. "The Super Happy Tree figured out why you were upset, and now it's using one of its roots to lead you to what would make you the most happy."
"To Mario…" Luigi murmured.
Still singing, the yoshi eventually started to migrate in the opposite direction of the root. Soon, the field was nearly empty, and Luigi watched in surprise.
"What's going on now?"
"They've done their part to help someone in need. They're headed back home to Yoshi Island until next winter." Toadshi said. "I'd follow, but it's my shift to stay with the tree this time."
"Yoshi!"
Luigi turned to see his yoshi friend coming out from the cavern, holding something on its back. It was one of the eggs- from the green polka dots, clearly this egg belonged to the three-spike yoshi.
It came to the plumber and turned, presenting the egg to him. Luigi looked at Toadshi.
"The yoshi wants you to have his egg."
"Wh-What?"
"The yoshi have been in hiding for years. I think… they're ready for more people to know about them. And they want you to start that."
"Me? But… I'm just… a guy. Why a'me?"
"I'm not sure. But what I do know is that this yoshi trusts you to take his egg. So you should take it."
"…won't the mama be mad?"
"There isn't a mom, he made the egg."
"…but… what?"
"Don't think too much into it. All yoshi can make eggs. I just called your yoshi 'he' for simplicity."
Luigi cautiously reached out and took the egg. He pulled his backpack around- with the torch gone, there was a lot more room. He put the egg in the backpack, the top of it peeking out of the top of the backpack.
"…at least it won't hatch until a'next winter, I suppose."
"Actually, yoshi eggs hatch when they feel loved. So you might have a yoshi on your hands sooner than you think, man."
After Luigi put the backpack back on, he turned back to his yoshi friend. The three-spike yoshi slapped Luigi with his tongue to lick him again- instead of being upset, Luigi smiled after.
"Yoshi!"
The green yoshi trotted away, with Luigi waving after him. Soon enough, the yoshi disappeared into the trees, leaving Luigi alone with Toadshi.
"Well… it was nice a'meeting you, Toadshi."
"Likewise, my main man. Good luck finding your brother." Toadshi nodded slow. "You know… I was wondering why the yoshis hadn't left this spot past the start of spring… I guess they were here past their migration date just so they could help you out."
Luigi felt a bit happy at that, smiling a little.
"Now go follow that root, man."
"Okie dokie!" Luigi perked up, turning and following the bump in the ground. "Bye-bye!"
"Safe travels! As my friends always say: yoshi!"
Luigi didn't know how long he's been walking, but he finally reached Toad Town after a grueling walk.
The roots had been thinning out the last few walks, so clearly he was close to where Mario was… at least he hoped. Luigi steeled himself once he was finally out of the Toadwood Forest, and actually met one or two Toads while following that root's route. Nothing of importance though, just asking for directions.
The Toads didn't look that bad now that he's seen quite a few. So he was able to march into Toad Town without a lot of fear of being hurt.
Speaking of being hurt, his eyebrow scar had healed pretty quickly. It wasn't a wound anymore, but due to the scar tissue, he was always going to have a notch in his eyebrow. He kinda liked how he looked with it though! Made him look super cool.
He strolled through the brick streets of Toad Town (he found the name on the sign into town), still holding the straps of his backpack. The yoshi egg continued to rest in his trusty backpack, bouncing slightly with Luigi's footsteps.
As he walked, he knew the Toads saw him. He heard them murmur to each other.
"Who's that?"
"Look at that guy?"
"Doesn't he look like…?"
Look like who? Like Mario? He must be close! He followed the roots further into town, only looking up to see where they were headed ahead of him.
Luigi stared at where the roots led in awe. There was a castle here. "Mamma mia…"
As he reached the castle, passing the brick road in front of the castle's hill, he passed the Mushmellow XL with the Toad Brigade standing around it. A green toad was walking up to the brigade.
"Hey guys! I'm back from the bank!"
"Bank Toad!" The Toad Brigade cheered.
"Bank Toad, you missed it!" Captain Toad said. "We had a totally killer adventure at the Beanbean border while you were at the bank!"
"What? Aw, man! I always miss the coolest stuff when I'm counting the cash!"
"It's okay buddy! We got you a mug from the borderlands as a consolation gift!"
"Oh boy, I love mugs!"
Luigi kept walking, not noticed by the Toad Brigade. He saw the roots came out from the ground, creeping up the castle wall and creating a circle around one of the windows. Somewhere in this castle, Mario was being held- and Luigi was going to find him.
He opened the door. Luigi found Mario- standing next to another Luigi.
The green plumber slowly walked inside, his eyes widening a bit in terror from the sight. This other Luigi was apparently headed out with Mario, as they were only a few feet in front of him.
It was silent for a few seconds. Luigi could see someone on the steps far behind his brother- a blonde woman in a pink dress, holding her hand over her mouth in shock at the scene.
"Mario…" Luigi said.
"…Luigi? What…?" Mario looked at the Other Luigi. "What's a'going on here?"
"I was gonna ask the same a'thing." Other Luigi said, staring at Luigi.
Stepping further in, Luigi closed the door behind him to keep the Other Luigi from getting out. He must have closed it harder than he thought, as it slammed loudly and echoed off the walls.
Luigi walked towards Mario. "Bro…"
His wrist was grabbed by the Other Luigi. "Get away from him you imposter!"
"Imposter? What?!"
Luigi pushed Other Luigi. Other Luigi pushed him back. They started struggling, soon resorting to wildly slapping at one another. Mario stumbled backwards, joined at the bottom of the steps by that blonde.
"Guards!" Peach yelled.
Luigi and Other Luigi stopped as they were surrounded by Toads with spears, all pointed at both of them.
Staring at the pair of his brothers, Mario took off his cap and scratched his head. He looked at Peach- she looked just as confused and uncomfortable.
"Mario, get rid of this guy!" Other Luigi said.
"Bro, it's a'me! I don't know what's going on! Please, I walked all this a'way to find you!"
"Stop!" Mario yelled, holding his hands out. In the silence, he took a deep breath. "…I've seen this scenario before."
"You have?" Peach asked, confounded.
"On a'television!"
"Yeah, on his favorite TV shows!"
Mario shushed the two Luigis. He rubbed his eyes, running both gloved hands over his face.
"How they would usually do it is ask them a'questions to find out who the real one is." Mario said to Peach. "…okay, bros. Tell me, if you both are Luigi… what's a'your last name?"
"Mario!" Other Luigi said.
"It's literally our a'family business!" Luigi added.
"…okay. Then how about… How did we get here?"
"I dunno, bro! We were doing some work with pipes…"
"…and we were sucked in by a green one!" Other Luigi finished for Luigi.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought." Mario stroked his mustache. "We're gonna be here for a while…"
Suddenly, the front door slammed open. The Toad Brigade, led by Captain Toad, were starting to walk in.
"Mario!" Captain Toad said. "Bank Toad missed our adventure! Tell him… all about…"
Seeing the situation unfolding before them, Captain Toad and his brigade stopped. After a second pause, the Toads all backed up, with the captain slamming the door closed behind them, not wanting to be a part of this bewildering scenario.
When the door initially slammed open, only one person reacted: Luigi. He thrashed wildly, and was in a position of sheilding his body and face with his arms even after the brigade left. Other Luigi, however, didn't react at all.
After the brigade left, Mario pointed at Luigi- the real one.
"That's him. That's a'my brother!"
Luigi was shoved out of the circle by one of the Guard Toads. Mario caught the stumbling green plumber, holding onto his arms.
"Mario!"
"Luigi!"
They hugged tightly. Peach stormed in front of them, parting her lips to whistle loud. Luigi ended the hug, freaked out from the sudden whistle, making the bros turn to look at the princess.
The Toad Guards stepped in close, keeping the tips of the spears close to Other Luigi's body. The imposter stood there with a neutral expression, staring at the trio near the stairs.
"The jig is up, fake Luigi!" Peach said. "Who are you?"
It was quiet for a moment. Suddenly, Other Luigi's body began to jiggle. He leaned forwards, putting his hand over his eyes as he started to laugh deeply, his body heaving as he did so. He leaned forwards further, almost like he was bending over, before his head and shoulders went through his legs.
His legs picked themselves up from the air and flipped forwards. The Toad Guards all stepped back as the imposter transformed with a flip, becoming a massive white being in place of a human.
It was massive, spherical. It had sunken, glowing, red-violet eyes, a massive mouth with a hanging tongue, and a big crown atop his head with a glowing purple gem in the center.
He was transluscent. He was a ghost.
Luigi shrieked in horror.
With a spin, the massive ghost took out the entire circle of guards with a continuous slap of his tongue. Once the guards were down, the ghost moved forwards, sizing up the three and towering over them.
"Well, well, well." He spoke, mouth phasing so his tongue stayed out. "I should've known the real Luigi would show up and ruin the fun. What's wrong, greenie? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
The crowned ghost laughed wickedly, almost shaking the walls.
"What are you? What're you doing in my castle?!" Peach shouted back.
"Now now, princess, that's not a way to speak to fellow royalty. I'm the lord of the ghosts, leader of the spirits… King Boo, if you please."
"I don't. Leave!"
"No." King Boo rumbled in reply. "You see, the reason I disguised myself as that pathetic little plumber was to get here, in your castle. Specifically… to get you!"
Purple energy crackled from the gem in his crown, creating a path of violet plasma towards the princess and grabbing her. Peach was stuck in place, lifted off the ground.
"Peach!" Mario yelled, reaching out to her.
"I wanted to do this discreetly, but Luigi forced my hand. You can thank him at the wedding reception."
Before the massive boo could turn and leave, Mario jumped up towards King Boo. Though he passed through the ghost's body, doing so allowed him to reach up and hit against the crown that the ghost had on top of his head.
Nudging the crown made King Boo lose his grasp on Peach. The princess fell- Luigi scrambled forwards and caught her, though put her down with a flushed face.
"HEY!" King Boo turned around to look at Mario. "Don't touch my crown, you little whelp!"
The massive boo whipped his tongue around to hit Mario, the plumber quickly ducking to avoid it. King Boo breathed fire towards him next, making Mario hustle out of the way before he was hit by it.
"You know how long I've been watching you play hero here?" The ghost king yelled. "A while! It makes me sick! I almost let you fall from that airtub!"
While Mario distracted King Boo, Luigi and Peach rushed back to hide behind part of the staircase, peeking out to watch Mario fight the big ghost.
"Who is a'that guy?"
"I've never heard of a 'King Boo' before this very moment. Be careful, Mario…" Peach mumbled in reply. After a second, she turned to Luigi. "Oh! I'm Peach, by the way. Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom." She held out her hand to Luigi.
Luigi blinked, then shook her hand. "Imma Luigi."
"I know! I've heard a lot about you from Mario. I've been helping him find you. I'm happy you're alright!"
There was a crash as King Boo threw a table at Mario, the plumber diving out of the way.
"That might a'change in the next few minutes!" Luigi said, voice shaking.
As Mario leapt into the air to reach King Boo's crown again, the ghost fired a ray at Mario that caught him and kept him still. With a high-pithced cackle, King Boo psychokinetically flung Mario into the ground.
Before Luigi could react, Peach left the side of the stairs, heading towards the descending boo.
"Stop!" She said, standing between King Boo and Mario. "It's me you want, right? Then take me! Just don't hurt him or any of my Toads!"
King Boo cackled again. "Oh, princess, you shouldn't have."
Peach was grasped again, lifting her into the air. However, after a second, Mario was picked up too, floating alongside the princess.
"But I really should take him too." King Boo continued. "I'm sure the guy paying me would be so interested in seeing who you've been hanging around with for the last few months."
Luigi tensed up, seeing Mario lifted into the air. He shivered for a moment before rushing in, running into the air, scuttling to propel himself further and grab onto his frozen brother. "Mario!"
The red plumber was twisted around so King Boo could see Luigi hanging there.
"You again?" King Boo rolled his eyes. "You Mario brothers and your dependency. Then again… Peach said not to hurt Mario and the Toads… she never said anything about you. Always a groomsman, never the groom!"
King Boo spun Mario like a propellor, flinging Luigi back to the ground on his stomach. The green plumber picked himself up, rubbing his head and groaning.
"You want your brother that bad, Luigi? HERE YA GO!"
Luigi looked up in time to see that King Boo was sending Mario down to the ground, feet first, intent on forcing Mario to stomp on Luigi with both feet. Luigi dove out of the way in time for Mario to slam into the ground behind him.
As he landed, Luigi's backpack finally had enough. It tore open, flinging the tools he had kept in there across the tiled floor. The yoshi egg rolled slowly, eventually coming to a stop on its side.
Moving Mario and Peach behind him, King Boo floated over slowly to the crawling Luigi. The plumber turned over on his back, crab walking further and further away from King Boo. As he floated towards the terrified human, the ghost's mouth opened wider and wider- eventually, King Boo's face pushed out of the mouth, returning him to his previous state, being surreal just to further terrify Luigi. It was working.
The massive boo's eyes flicked over to the tools, eventually seeing the yoshi egg. The king stopped, just as Luigi hit a back wall.
"Is that… a yoshi egg?" He asked. "Heh heh. Wow! You're just full of surprises, Luigi! I haven't seen a yoshi egg in a decade! I wonder if they still taste like chickendactyls…"
King Boo turned, his tongue slithering over to reach for the yoshi egg. Luigi let out a noise of shock as he saw the ghost was intending on eating the egg he just received from the yoshi. He stumbled forwards, attempting to crawl to the egg, wanting to crawl and stay out of the ghost's sight.
His hand landed on something big- it was the pipe-vac, still unused after all this time.
Knowing he was no match for the speed of the ghost, Luigi quickly put on the pipe-vac around his shoulder. He switched it on and held out the hose with both hands towards the egg.
The suction of the vacuum was strong enough to attract the yoshi egg. It rolled out of the way of the boo's tongue before it could even get close. King Boo turned, letting out a displeased noise- similar to his cackle- at what the plumber was doing.
"Hey! Ugh, I'm sick to double death of you! I want that egg!"
Luigi quickly scrambled forwards, still holding the vacuum, pulling the egg out of the way of King Boo's tongue slamming down into the ground.
Eventually, King Boo was behind the rolling egg, getting closer with a widening mouth to bite the egg.
The egg traveled between Luigi's legs, almost like making a goal. King Boo's tongue, stretched out, met the hose of the pipe-vac, immediately getting sucked in and trapped within. Even though he could phase through things, it seemed that a ghost's natural enemy was vacuums.
With the ghost trapped, King Boo stared down at Luigi, who looked at the ghost with shaking hands and a horrified face.
"Whad're you do-wen?" The king spoke, unable to use his tongue. "Get obb me!"
King Boo thrashed, with Luigi still gripping the hose tightly. In order to try and get control of the hose again, Luigi pulled hard- still with Super Mushroom strength, he pulled much harder than he thought, and swung King Boo around. Luigi, accidentally, slammed King Boo into a wall.
After his eyes rolled around from the hit, King Boo focused on Luigi again.
"Oh, I'm DEFILITELY skibbing you alibe fuh bat!" He yelled.
With the knowledge he could harm this massive ghost threatening his brother, Luigi felt his body tense. His horrified face turned to a resolved and focused one, his eyebrows furrowing. King Boo's eyes widened as he was no longer in control of the situation.
Rushing forwards, Luigi let out a yell as he spun King Boo around, making a full revolution before flinging him into another wall. This was hard enough that, when his crown hit the surface, the gem cracked.
With the gem weakened, the grasp on Mario and Peach ended. They fell- Mario landed on his backside, while Peach's dressed puffed up, pink and gold sparkles carrying her down to her feet.
"My powuh geb!" King Boo cried. "Get… obb… MEEEEEE!"
King Boo thrashed again, with Luigi hanging onto the hose tight. He was soon joined by Mario and Peach, the pair coming up on either side of Luigi and grabbing the vacuum hose with him, keeping King Boo there.
The Guard Toads were getting up. Peach yelled to them.
"The door!"
Those who were cognizant enough rushed to the front door, opening both for the trio who were dragging the struggling King Boo out of the castle. They got to the stone bridge over the moat, and Luigi made the hose aim to the horizon, far away from the town.
Luigi looked King Boo in the eyes.
"Ciao!"
He switched the vacuum to blow. There was a second where the hose jiggled violently, before the force of the blow fired the tongue, and King Boo itself, far into the sky. The ghost was lighter than air, making the blast of the vacuum rocket the massive ghost into the distance. It let out one more displeased sound, which rapidly faded off as King Boo disappeared into the horizon.
The pipe-vac was destroyed in the blast, not making any noise even though it was switched on. The massive burst of dust and air blew off the caps of both Mario brothers.
Luigi picked up the red cap. Mario picked up the green. The brothers found each other pretty quickly, trading back hats before they hugged each other again, free to do so in the peace created from the ghost's absence. They took turns lifting one another in the air, their shoes clapping against the stone.
"Oh, grazie al cielo!" Mario said. "Luigi, I'm so happy you're okay!"
"I'm okay? I'm happy you're okay!" Luigi replied, smiling wide.
Mario took a second to breathe, before his face fell slightly. "Luigi… about the stuff that happened before we ended up here…"
"Bro, just save it." Luigi held up a hand. "I get it. It was all just dumb brother stuff. I know you didn't mean what you said."
"Still. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too. Now onto a'bigger things…" Luigi turned to Peach and gestured at her with both hands. "You know a freakin' princess? I get stuck in the woods for months and you get to chill with a'royalty?!"
"The woods? I knew it! Luigi did end up in the Toadwood Forest!" Peach said, excited.
"Peach has been helping me find you. And she's supposed to help us find a way back a'home."
"I intend on keeping that promise. We'll find a way… though it might still take some time."
"That's alright." Luigi said to Peach. He turned to Mario again, grabbing his brother's arms and shaking him a bit. "As long as I got my brother back, I'm ready for anything!"
"Anything, eh?"
"Most things."
The brothers chuckled. The doors, still opened, had others pass through: Peach's parents.
"What's going on out here?" Chanterelle asked. "Mushroom and I were having tea and suddenly the castle is on lockdown! Peach, are you alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine, mother!" Peach replied to her. "We found Luigi!"
"I thought you already did?" Mushroom was confused, scratching the side of his head.
"It's complicated. Don't worry about it."
Passing around the king and queen, the Guard Toads marched out of the castle, each of them holding something that came out of Luigi's bag. The last guard out was holding the broken bag itself.
"We retrieved Luigi's things, princess!"
"Good job guys!"
Luigi took the yoshi egg from one of the Toads, checking it for any cracks.
"What animal laid an egg a'like that?" Mario asked him.
"A yoshi!"
"A yoshi?" Mushroom asked.
"I thought they were just a legend…" Chanterelle murmured.
"They must be the reptiles I heard lived in the Toadwood Forest!" Peach chimed in. "Where did you get it?"
"It's… a long story." Luigi was flustered. "I… Think I need to relax. After all that."
"No problem, bro." Mario pat his back. "C'mon, lemme show you where I've been staying the last few months. You might need to duck to walk through it though…"
"I'll come too! I want to hear about the yoshis!" Peach said. She looked at her parents. "…if that's okay."
"Go." Chanterelle waved her off. "I'm sure nothing bad could happen with two Marios in town… actually, do not quote me on that."
The guards were so kind as to carry all of Luigi's stuff to the house the brothers were staying at in Toad Town. They put everything on the dining table in there, and Mario took the bag from them once everything was settled.
Borrowing some needle and thread from Peach, Mario sat down and started mending that backpack. They had it for years at that point, no use in getting rid of it now.
As he got settled, Luigi told Mario and Peach about everything that happened- from crashing through the Warp Pipe to the Super Happy Tree. They, in turn, told him about everything they've been doing and discovered.
Luigi rested the yoshi egg on the couch, in a small nest made of blankets. After he set the egg down carefully, Peach set the finished flower crown she had been working on on top of the egg.
"Perfect." She said.
"Perfect!" Mario said, unrelated. He stood up.
Stitched with pink thread, the bag was as good as new. He set it on the dining room table with all the stuff that was once inside of it.
"Don't a'put it there! Where are we gonna eat if that stuff's on there, bro?"
"Oh! Uh…" Mario became sheepish. "I've mostly been eating on a'the couch."
"What?! If mama was here she'd crack your skull with a frying pan!" Luigi replied. "Get that stuff off the table! I'll make some dinner tonight. What do you have?"
"Mushrooms."
Luigi had a full body shiver at that. "Ugh. No more mushrooms…"
"Thank you! At least someone agrees…"
"Let's go to the market!" Peach suggested. "A new stand opened up with produce from Isle Delfino! Papayas, pineapples, durians! All kinds of stuff! Even if it won't be used for dinner, it'll still be something!"
"Oooh, I've never had papaya! Is it good?"
"Oh it's delicious, Luigi. I heard you were the one who could cook between you and Mario, do you bake?"
"Lasagna, mostly. Though I used to make a'sweets with my Nonna when we'd go to her house."
"Tell me more! Tell me everything!"
Mario chuckled, shaking his head slowly as he followed them to the door. At the same time, Mario and Luigi grabbed their hats from the coat rack and put them on. The last one out, Mario closed the door firmly behind him.
The vibration of the closing shook the couch a bit, making the yoshi egg wiggle. The voices of the trio got further and further away, eventually leaving the house in complete silence.
After a few seconds, the yoshi egg wiggled again, as something inside moved around with intent on becoming free sometime soon.
The sound of a fist hitting the arm of a throne was loud enough to echo through the entire Dark Lands.
"UGH! You MORONS!" Bowser yelled. "You're not even like the idiots I have working under me day by day! You're worse! What do you MEAN they knocked you out of your airtub?!"
The Shy Guy troop, led by the captain Snifit, stood before the seated Koopa king. The normal Shy Guys shivered in terror, while the Snifit was calm.
"Weew-weeeew."
"Useless. Useless, useless, USELESS!" Bowser slammed his fist on the arm again with every 'useless' he yelled. "This is the last time I hire freelancers!"
"That's what you said last time, your ferociousness." Kamek, who was beside the throne, said.
"…oh. Well, I'm not happy!"
He stood, flamed billowing from his mouth. The Shy Guys all cowered behind the Snifit. After a second, however, the flames extinguished, Bowser's mouth closing with a frown.
"You're not even worth it." He growled. After a second of silence, Bowser yelled next. "GET OUT!"
The Shy Guy troop quickly scurried away, headed towards the thick doors to the castle.
As they got to the door, before they could open, King Boo phased through it. The sudden appearance of the boo scared the troop, who all squealed before falling on their back in a faint.
King Boo rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"King Boo! What're you doing here?! Where's Peach?"
"Oh, save it, Koops." King Boo grumbled. "Mission failed. She's being protected."
"Protected? I thought those Toads were wimpy mushroom people!"
"They are. I'm talking about that fellow wimp I turned into." As he passed behind a Koopa Troopa, King Boo shapeshifted back into Luigi. His normal voice came through still. "The one I told you about. Luigi."
"Is that a Toad?"
"No, that's a human, my lord." Kamek corrected Bowser.
"Human? One of those monkey things? What're they doing around Peach?"
"Peach looks like one of them, so maybe they found their ilk."
"Hmm… Well, if Peach looks anything like that wimp, she's probably smoking…" Bowser rubbed his chin. He was angry again. "Wait a minute, how did you fail?! You have that Power Gem!"
"That wimp, Luigi, broke it. Both him and his brother… Mario."
As he spoke the plumber's name, King Boo shifted into the visage of Mario.
"Mario?"
"Oh yes." King Boo, as Mario, smirked. He knew how to get the heat off him. He floated forwards, hovering around behind Bowser, putting a hand on the king's shoulder. "He's the princess' new boy toy. You should've seen the way they kept holding one another."
Bowser bristled. "What?"
"You don't know the half of it, Koops." King Boo drifted to the other shoulder from behind, his other hand on that shoulder now. "And here's the kicker- you know that last letter you got from Peach? She didn't write it. Mario did."
"WHAT?!" Bowser roared, standing, fire blasting from his mouth.
Kamek used his wand to push the Koopa Troopas out of the room. They couldn't afford to lose more troops from another kingly outburst like this.
"First her parents, now this Mario guy?!" Bowser said, angry. "She's surrounded by MANIPULATORS! They're forcing her to stay there against her will! She's… she's…"
King Boo turned back to normal. "A damsel in distress?"
"YES!"
After a second, Bowser whipped his hand around and pointed at the boo.
"You're gonna help me get her here!" He shouted. "I graciously allowed you to maintain your kinghood over the Ruined Kingdom…"
"After your parents destroyed it? Back before it was the Ruined Kingdom?"
"Irellevant!" Bowser continued. "I could've made that place a summer home, and yet I allowed you to remain its king! You OWE me!"
"Calm down, calm down, Koops." King Boo floated to the rug in front of the throne again. "You don't need to strongarm me. I want to help you."
"You… You do?"
"Oh yes. Absolutely. Just one condition…" King Boo cackled, grinning ear to ear. "I want Luigi all to myself."
"Deal! Just let me get my hands on Mario…" Bowser looked at his hands, watching them fist and unfist themselves, smoke billowing from the sides of his mouth.
"I'll be in touch. Always a pleasure, King Koopa."
King Boo turned slowly to haunt away.
"Wait."
He paused at Bowser's command. King Boo turned around. "Yes?"
"You… You saw her. Didn't you?"
"…yes, I did. Why?"
"…Kamek."
"Yes, my lord?"
"Leave. Now."
After a moment, Kamek sighed, before using his wand to teleport out.
Bowser sat down in his throne again slowly.
"…let me see her."
King Boo raised an eyebrow, but otherwise sighed, knowing he was under the Koopa's command.
"Alright, but keep your shell on. You get it just this once."
Similarly to what he did as Luigi, the boo rolled forwards slowly. As he turned back around, instead of being King Boo, the ghost shapeshifted into someone else: blonde hair, blue eyes, pink dress.
Princess Peach stood before the seated king. Slowly, the false princess looked up at him.
Bowser rested his cheek in his hand. The light from the shining apparition morphed in his eyes' reflection, almost aptly creating hearts in his vision as he gazed upon the beauty that was the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. He felt warmth fill his chest as he looked at her.
She was beautiful. She was masterful. And soon… she would be his.