Super Mario World (Series)

by sleepfiction

After fixing a strange pipe deep below their city, plumber brothers Mario and Luigi find themselves sucked into a pipe that warps them to a strange new land: the Mushroom Kingdom! As strangers in a strange new place, Mario and Luigi quickly make themselves useful by helping those around town, also aided by the compassionate Princess Peach and pursued by the dark King Bowser.

7. 1-7: Down The Rabbit Hole

"So because I ate those red and white mushrooms, I'm a'super strong?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Huh. Weird."

Sitting at the dining room table, the Mario Bros were having their first calm breakfast together after being properly reunited half a week prior. With Luigi finally safe and sound, that meant that the temporary home for both brothers had some semblance of normality returned to both of them.

The house had become a bit tidier, with everything done now having a set purpose and intention behind it rather than Mario's "I'll just do whatever" mentality that had been happening for the last month or two he had been trapped within the Mushroom Kingdom.

Well, "trapped" was a strong word. Mario didn't hate it here, especially now that he was a familiar figure in town. Dare he say, Mario would be happy to live in Toad Town and be their plumber- preferably with Luigi- if he had the choice; but he couldn't sit here in good conscious and not find a way back to let his people back in Brooklyn (his mother, father and Pauline specifically) know him and Luigi were alive and safe.

After he does that? Well, Mario will think it over.

Mario shoved the last bit of jammy toast in his maw, palm covering his mustachioed mouth as he did. The jam he had on the toast he was eating was a peach jam. It reminded him of the princess of the same name- Peach. Now that her end of the bargain was fulfilled, it was time for all of them to try and find a way back home… Eventually. The fact that the kingdom's borders were closed made it ten times harder.

There was the sound of slipping paper and tapping as mail slipped through the house's mail slot and landed on the hardshroom floor. Mario, back to the door, turned to look at it.

"Ah! Mail! I'll a'get it."

Mario got up from his table, walking over and picking up the few bits of mail the brothers had. They had been there, Mario specifically at the house, long enough that they were now getting junk mail. Better than getting taxes- though apparently most modern amenities across the town like lighting was just free. With every weird difference between nations, there was one that Mario's home should adopt.

Bending down to get the mail, they only had maybe half a dozen items that day. All of them was just junk- a magazine (Myco Digest) sent out to get them to start a subscription, a menu for a local restaurant doing takeout, and a few pamphlets advertising houses in other places across the Mushroom Kingdom, including a new high-end community a few hours away.

As he walked back to the dining area, Mario paged through the mail. Luigi sipped his cappuccino- with Moo Moo Milk and espresso made of mushrooms, the green plumber discovered how to make good coffee. Mario had already finished his.

"Anything good?" Luigi asked before sipping his coffee.

"No, just a'junk mail."

"Wow, look at all th-those pamphlets. We just got here, why are they advertising other houses?"

"Can't a'blame 'em for trying. We are Toad Town's leading attraction, paisano."

"So they think we wanna be the freakshow at other a'places across the kingdom?"

"Awww, c'mon, Weegi." Mario took a pamphlet out to show it to his brother. "You don't wanna live in Evershade Valley?"

The community on the pamphlet was a high-class one a few hours away from Toad Town, with mansions available there for rent or purchase as it was apparently mostly empty. The community was situated in some woods, shrouded in shadow, with a few foothills when there weren't trees. In the deep purple all-caps text naming Evershade Valley, the "D" was replaced with a crescent moon.

Luigi was horrified at the notion.

"N-No!" He said defensively. "That place is d-dark and a'creepy! I wouldn't go there unless I absolutely had to!" Luigi paused, thinking it over once more. "…though I would like to live in a mansion…"

"One thing at a time, bro. Letsa get home first."

Mario slipped the junk mail into the trash. He returned to the kitchen, taking his breakfast plate to clean it. Remaining at the table, Luigi continued to sip his coffee.

Thinking to himself, Luigi tapped his nose. "I wonder if they're still a'trying to get the roots of the Super Happy Tree off the castle wall."

"They were working hard to chop it down the other day. But I don't think a'they have the tools to cut down the roots of some kinda magic tree." Mario replied, putting his dish in the dry rack. "I still think that's the craziest thing you've ever told me: dinosaurs guarding a magic rainbow tree. Then again, I've a'seen weirder over the last few months, so I can't exactly say you're lying."

"I think it's a'crazy too! I can't wait for you to see what a yoshi looks like, bro. They're cute."

"I'll be waiting. But there's one thing from that story you told me about the yoshi that I'm still confused about," Mario stopped by the side of the table, standing still to look at Luigi. "You said that Super Happy Tree was a'made from the first Power Star that hit the planet."

"Yeah, th-that's what Toadshi said."

"…what the heck is a Power Star?"

"…I don't… Know…"

It was quiet between the Bros as they both thought to themselves about what a Power Star could be. After a second, Mario sighed, clipping the straps to his overalls to put them on properly.

"Well, I'm sure we'll a'never find out." Whether that was meant to be sardonic or not from Mario was unclear. "Let's at least a'try to have a normal day today. Now that you're here, we can work on those pipes under the city I mentioned."

"Yeah, you mentioned the pipes were b-busted, but not how they ended up that a'way."

"Uh… Well…" Mario coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nobody's fault. Letsa just get going."

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Luigi washed his dishes and put them out to dry, clipping his own overall straps as well. They got their hats from the rack by the door and put them on in unison, and Luigi put on their work backpack as Mario opened the door.

They both walked out and down the lawn, headed further into Toad Town. The village was bustling with Toads that day, who were either working or having a stroll for one reason or another.

As he passed by more familiar Toads, Mario waved with a smile. Luigi kept to himself, still skittish at the Toadstool peoples.

"Oh hey, it's Mario! Hey Mario! Hey green Mario!"

Hearing his title, Luigi perked up, but frowned deeply.

Mario chuckled a bit. "His name's Luigi."

"Oh! Okay! Hi Mario and green Luigi!"

The Toad happily walked away. Mario was still chuckling, though Luigi gripped the straps of his backpack with apprehension.

"I heard enough of that in a'high school…"

"C'mon, Weegi, they just gotta get used to you. They kept calling me all kindsa different names when I first came here. You'll a'get there, bro."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Luigi sighed, but fixed his face. "This place has been so hard to adjust to. I don't know how things could get any weirder— HOLY RIGATONI!"

In the grass, on the brick road towards the castle, a new tree had sprouted overnight. It was large, with striped leaves on top, and was a very thick trunked tree. It also had some kind of protrusion that looked like a striped tail reaching out of a rump-shaped lump that was on the side of the tree facing away from the road.

It was definitely not there the day before. The appearance of the tailed tree took both Mario and Luigi by surprise. There were a small group of Toads that were standing a fair distance away from the tree, but a quintet of Toads were near the trunk of the tree and looking it over- the Toad Brigade, though without Archivist Toadette this time.

Mario and Luigi walked through the very small crowd of other Toads to reach the Brigade. Captain Toad noticed them immediately, raising his hand to wave at the brothers.

"Mario! Luigi!" He said cheerfully.

Nearby, Nap Toad snorted and woke up from his nap while sitting at the base of the tailed tree, stirred by the captain's yelling. Note Toad was looking over the tree and aptly taking notes; Mail Toad was swinging from the tail of the tree, hanging by his arms; Bank Toad was looking up the trunk as if trying to find any fruits growing from the branches.

The Mario Bros walked over and stood next to Captain Toad, who turned and looked at the tailed tree with his hands on his hips, smiling with excitement and intrigue.

As he gazed at the weird tree, Mario reached under his cap to scratch his head.

"Isn't it pretty, Mario?" Captain Toad asked him. "This is the coolest thing I've seen all week!"

"Wh-What is that thing?"

"It's a tree, Luigi! Do they have trees where you come from?"

"Yes, but not one with a'tails!"

"Huh. That's a fair point."

Note Toad came up to speak to them. "This is remarkable! Trees like this don't grow anywhere else! What could've caused this to grow?"

"I think it has to do with our new plumber friend's arrival the other day."

Luigi blinked at Captain Toad's suggestion. "…are you saying the Super Happy Tree root did this?"

"Yes, exactly! That's my current theory. It seems the magic of that tree you talked about caused a really weird, yet cool, tree pop up in Toad Town! We think anything that grows from the tree will be as magical as any of the things from the original Super Happy Tree, but it's only been growing cool looking leaves."

"Some of them are getting brown! But the bark of the trees remind me of the trees that grow blonde leaves…" Bank Toad remarked, rubbing the trunk. "This baby should grow gold leaves too! But all of them are green, then turn brown…"

"The Toad Brigade is going on a spur-of-the-moment trip to track down the root of the Super Happy Tree and see if any other weird trees have grown along the path!" The captain said to Mario and Luigi. "Stopping at the border of Toadwood, of course. We won't intrude on the magic tree, since it's supposed to be private. As much as I wanna see dinosaurs…"

"I know the yoshis appreciate your sentiment." Luigi said. "Uh… When are you a'leaving?"

"When Toadette gets back! She's visiting the princess today to give her some notes she gathered before we leave on this multi-day trip. Princess Toadstool has been interested in investigating the more obscure and unique creatures we have recorded in the archives! I'm sure she can show you when you go up to see the princess again, Mario."

"Oh! Uh… Yeah." The red plumber grunted. "…I wish you luck on your trip."

"Thanks Mario! We'll see you guys around! Say bye to Mario and Luigi guys!"

The other Toads in the brigade all said "Bye Mario and Luigi," save for Nap Toad, who weakly waved off the brothers before falling asleep at the base of the tree once more.

Together, the brothers walked away, ironically headed towards the castle in order to reach the sewer entrance that Toadso had shown Mario many weeks prior. Mario hooked his thumbs in his overall straps, but soon felt his twin brother nudge him with an elbow.

"When you go see Peach again, huh? So it's inevitable?"

"Luigi."

Luigi chuckled. "I can a'see it now. 'Mario, please come to the castle, I've baked a cake for you…' and then…" The green plumber wrapped his arms around his chest before making kissing sounds with closed eyes.

Mario's face was as red as his hat. "Grow up, bro."

"Don't act like a'you don't love it."

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Mario walked a bit quicker to separate from his brother.

"Next a'guy who calls you 'green Mario' is not getting corrected."

"Aw c'mon, it's just a joke, bro!"

"Peach is a'more sophisticated than all of that. She's… fancy and smart." Mario said, slowly letting Luigi catch up with him. "You can talk like that with someone like a'me, but don't disrespect her like that."

"Have some self respect, paisano!" Luigi smacked Mario's arm with the back of his hand. "Don't act like you're not a serious catch! Let's just change the subject- are we headed to the castle today to see her? Since she's a'helping us back home and all."

Mario looked up at the castle ahead, particularly focusing on the big stain glass window atop the entrance of the building, one made to look like Peach from the side. His face became red again, and Mario self consciously pulled his cap down by its brim.

"…no. She probably needs a break from me anyways. Letsa go to the sewers."

---

All Peach could think about was how much she wanted to do something crazy.

The entire day, Peach had been situated within her boudoir. She was cooped up in there all day while she reflected on everything that Luigi had told her when he came back- from the Super Happy Tree, to the yoshis, all of it.

Those mushrooms, the Super Mushrooms, even the flowers of fire and ice- they all came from the Super Happy Tree. They were made to be magic augmentations to those who consumed it. This was a new development that she didn't even expect, she didn't think she would find answers to why Super Mushrooms or Fire Flowers exist.

Speaking of, Peach was currently watering the flowers she had recovered from the Shy Guy Airtub from the other day. Her boudoir was full of pots with many plants in them, with flowers of both fire and ice variety now added.

From a pink watering can, she poured iced water around the Fire Flower. From a light blue watering can, she poured heated water around the Ice Flower. She had to make sure that the waters balanced out so they could be properly fed.

Even though the return of Luigi was one of the most hectic days of her life, Peach found that she loved it. Maybe she wasn't the best at adventures, but Mario certainly seemed to be competent enough to take care of both himself and Peach.

Peach just liked getting out of her comfort zone. It was new, fresh, to go on adventures like they did the other day. Driving massive karts onto a flying airship? Fighting the proclaimed king of the ghosts head on?

She was going to miss when Mario and Luigi finally go back home.

Sighing, Peach set down the watering cans. Now that Luigi was back, they were getting ever so closer to finding ways to get back to the Metro Kingdom so the brothers could return home. She had known Mario closely for the last month or so, and now it appeared he was going to leave as soon as he showed up. The one unique thing out of everything in the Mushroom Kingdom.

It wasn't like she wanted to get herself or anyone else hurt. She just wanted another adventure or two. Peach wanted to step into uncharted waters once again. Or maybe… uncharted sand.

"Hi Princess!"

Archivist Toadette entered the room. Toadsworth, behind her, gestured the female Toad.

"Your highness, the Toad Brigade's archivist, Toadette, has returned."

"Thank you, Toadsworth." Peach turned to greet her. Maybe he was stating the obvious, but Toadsworth always meant well. The princess greeted the Toadette as Toadsworth stepped out. "Hello, archivist."

"I found my old journal back from the brigade HQ! It has all the notes I made after studying history and zoology books from the library when I was a little funglet. Everything the old explorers from the Mushroom Kingdom has ever encountered should be in this baby!"

Taking it when offered, Peach looked over the light brown notebook, one that had a strap over the edge to keep it clothed. It was worn, clearly well used by the archivist, though not seeing proper action in a very long time.

"I'll see that this gets back to you eventually." Peach put it in her purse on a table nearby.

"Don't worry about that! I have oodles of notebooks that have info like the stuff in that, I won't miss one. Plus I also have it up here in the old striations." Toadette tapped her pink mushroom cap. "Besides, I don't use it anyways. I'm more focused on archiving our trips!"

"Still, I feel bad about just taking this for nothing… Hang on a second." Peach looked past the archivist to study the door, making sure Toadsworth wasn't peeking in. "…could you cover your eyes for a moment?"

"Oh! Sure!"

Grabbing the ends of her pink pigtails, Archivist Toadette covered her eyes with them.

Setting the journal aside, Peach walked back to the rows of large plants she had towards the back. She gave one more glance back to the Toadette to ensure she wasn't being watched, before Peach combed through the foliage with gloved hands.

In the back, a large gray flower stood; the first Peach had ever put in her boudoir, gifted to her by Prince Florian from the Flower Kingdom, a long-time ally of the Mushroom Kingdom. The flower was a Furafurawa, a flower meant to live forever, with a super-strong stem that could hold even hold living things in it.

Gently pulling back the petals, Peach revealed the object nestled on the pistil of the flower: a music box, one made of hardshroom, a faded pink color from years of use. Peach took it out and opened it, letting a small jingle play from the automatic music box inside.

This trinket box was Peach's most valuable possession- it was where she kept her most valuable treasures. The king and queen believed that music box had been lost to time (possibly believing it was gathering dust in their second castle used for storage) but Peach had it all along, and used it to hide things away from even them. Nobody came in Peach's boudoir, and if they did, they never messed with her plants, under penalty of serious injury.

Slipping her hand in, Peach pulled out a rare sight indeed: a blue star coin. While the Mushroom Kingdom used tokens and coins that had mushrooms and Peach's silhouette on either side, star coins were used everywhere on the planet as an international currency. At least, that's what Peach has read.

After closing the trinket box, putting it back on the flower and hiding it away again, Peach turned to Archivist Toadette and cleared her throat pointedly. The princess handed the coin to Archivist Toadette once she uncovered her eyes.

Archivist Toadette gasped. "A blue star coin?! These puppies are worth five times the normal ones!"

"I know! I came across one during a summit meeting. I figure a history buff like you would have a much better use for this coin than I would. Please, take it."

"Wowza! Thank you so much, princess!"

Taking the coin from Peach's palm, the archivist looked it over in awe. She stuck it into her bag for later examination, before readjusting her vest with a smile.

"Welp! I better head on out, we're about to head out on a trip today."

"Oh! Well, I wish you the best, archivist. Please send the Toad Brigade my regards."

"I will! I'll see ya around, princess! Bye!"

Guided out by Toadsworth, Archivist Toadette left the boudoir, and left Peach alone once more.

Once alone, Peach opened up the journal and flipped through it. Goombas and Wigglers and Cheep Cheeps, oh my! These notes were better than anything the princess could probably get from the resources they had at the castle- and even better, it wasn't information she had to beg out of the king and queen.

Even after everything happening so far, Peach's parents still hid things from her. It was a truth that kept rearing its ugly head whenever Peach attempted to get more info on anything relating to getting the brothers back home. Whether it was because they were uncomfortable or… anything else, was unknown.

But it was clear they had secrets of their own. That painting she saw down in the moat side of the undercroft for example, it was very clearly King Mushroom's art style- but why would he draw a raging fireball of all things? Just thinking about it made Peach so unsettled and uneasy.

As she thought, the princess eventually found herself leaving the journal to work on her plants, a good way for her to think to herself without trying. With gloved hands, Peach pruned a few leaves from other plants in her room. As she did, she heard stepping outside.

"Good morning, your majesty."

"Hey there, guards! Don't mind me, just headed over to get some painting done."

Turning slightly, Peach looked at the door as she heard her father walking by. She paused, looking back at the plant she was pruning, before putting the shears she had down on a nearby table and striding away to leave the room. As she did, she grabbed her parasol- a golden colored one with a blue trim.

She was going to get some kind of answer. At the very least for that really creepy painting.

Stepping out of the boudoir, Peach nodded at the nearby Toad Guards before strolling down the hallway of the second floor in order to reach where she knew her father was painting- the solar room. While Peach liked using it for tea, during the weekends King Mushroom used it for his painting projects.

Peach opened up her parasol and rested it on her shoulder before entering the solar. While the parasol blocked most of the sunlight coming in from hitting her face, Peach was still able to see clearly.

Her father was setting up an easel with another canvas. Mushroom noticed his daughter come in immediately, brightening when he saw her.

"Fuzz!" The king said joyfully. "What's new, princess? What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Just stopping in for a small chat." Peach replied. "What do you plan on painting today?"

"Well, I had this vision in my head for a while. The side of a tall, tall mountain, but with big mushrooms with long stems coming up beside it. I think that'll look really nice, and match the mushroom theme our kingdom's known for anyway. Though I could always paint a portrait of my lovely daughter if she sat still for a while…"

"That's something to plan, not do in the moment, dad." She paused, but pressed on. "I need to ask you something about your paintings."

"Mmhm?" Mushroom set up a palette with different paints on it.

"Have you ever drawn something that wasn't just landscapes?"

"Well, I used to draw still lifes in my prime, but I'd need a good model to do it again. I had a model before, an absolutely gorgeous one that I could paint until my arm fell off… but you know how busy your mother is nowadays, so the model is unavailable."

"Seriously, though, dad. Have you drawn anything… weird?"

"…Peach, what is this about?" Mushroom turned to look at his daughter, eyebrows furrowed and palette lowered.

Peach paused. "When I went into the undercroft, with Mario, we traveled deeper and reached the moat's runoff area. When we were there… we saw this painting. A weird one, one that was like a fireball with a face. It was really unsettling, but that was your art style it was in. You painted it. What is it?"

From the look on the king's face, Peach was telling the truth- it was one of his. However, it was very clear that he never wanted her to see it. His face was grim, solemn, and he looked at Peach with eyes that were less upset and more… remorseful.

"…I hoped you'd never see that one." Mushroom chuckled dryly, trying not to seem too off so he wouldn't worry his daughter. "That one… Hoo, that one…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, no, Peach." Mushroom rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I hid that one for a reason- I hid it from me. It reminds me of a lot of bad times in my life… Times I still think about, and still regret. It was a bit of vent art if anything."

"That explains why it made me so uneasy."

"That moat area is dangerous, you know that." The king turned back to his canvas. "That's why the painting is there. Part of me hopes that room will flood and destroy that painting forever."

"Was it really that bad?"

"It was. I've told you before, Peach, there are reasons your mother is so abrasive about the outside. I know you want to see what's out there, and I'm not trying to make this a lecture but… please, Peach. Just ignore that painting. It shouldn't exist to you anymore. If it really makes you feel the slightest bit of despair that I had when I made it… Well, the undercroft being so hard to exit is the only thing keeping me from burning it for that offense."

There was a small pause as the king debated sharing more. However, he instead grabbed his paintbrush and started mixing paints on his palette to start painting the canvas.

Peach watched the king paint the canvas blue to start with the sky. After a moment, with nothing left to say, she turned to leave the room and leave her father to his calming painting.

That was certainly unexpected. Mushroom seemed haunted at the very aspect of that painting. It was clear that the strange painting had more history than Peach knew… than her parents would ever be willing to share with her. And that was the problem.

She didn't want despair to befell her mother and father. She didn't want her parents to relive the horrors of whatever was going on before she was born. But they've been hiding things from her for her entire life- she had to prove she could handle danger to even be told what a Warp Pipe was, and she had already found the name of it from an outside source.

It wasn't a matter of what she was told. It was a matter of trust. Why didn't they trust her? She's done more than enough to prove how well she can handle everything.

She needed more info. Peach wanted to get out there and find out for herself. But she couldn't as long as she was in these castle walls.

Unless… There were new things out there she could find out without leaving the castle at all.

There was still that weird wall in the moat area down below- that one that led to that world full of sand. The one with the rabbit that ran into it… Knowing her parents, the rabbit was probably her long lost uncle or something named Bernard. Yet another thing she had to find out on her own.

She felt the journal in her purse. Peach had more info now… She had the opportunity to do a field test for herself and get a bit more information. Certainly more information than anything her parents would give her.

Closing her parasol and gripping her purse's strap, Peach quickly walked across the hall to reach the stairs.

She had a rabbit to catch.

---

Knock knock.

Mario and Luigi weren't expecting any visitors.

It had been about two days since they discovered the sudden appearance of the strange tailed tree in Toad Town. The Bros had made some leeway with fixing those messed up pipes (including making a new bridge to go over the gap) and while they had some time to go, it was looking promising.

Right now, they were separating their beds. As fun as bunk beds was, in such a small house like they had here in Toad Town, hitting their heads on the surface above them (whether it be the above bed or the ceiling) every morning was bound to give them brain damage in the long run.

Luigi kept his bed by the wall while Mario put his closer to the stairs; the beds they had were placed on a loft within the small home. Mario hadn't really fully realized this place had a loft- this revelation made the memory of that Toad waking him up through the window his first morning in Toad Town much, much more bizarre.

They had made this house a home in the last month-and-a-half since they'd gotten there. Thanks to alternate payment for plumbing with the town's Tailor Toadette, Mario and Luigi even managed to get appropriately colored blankets for their beds the day before.

No new clothes yet. Though the Tailor Toadette said she'd see what she could do with their measurements.

The brothers grunted as they squatted down to put Mario's bed on the floor. Between their bed was a nightstand with a fun orange mushroom lamp on it, a gift from Peach. She had been by once or twice since Luigi got back, and presented them with the gift "just because," during one of said visits.

Though neither of the brothers had seen her in the last day or so. That was probably nothing to worry about.

"I got it, bro."

Mario trotted down the steps of his loft, still in his standard plumbing attire but without his hat or gloves. He cleared his throat before opening the door, but was taken by surprise by the visitors.

"Oh… Hello."

Standing at the door was King and Queen Toadstool. Behind them were two Toad Guards.

"Hey, Mario!" King Mushroom said, looking like he was forcing his smile. "And his brother, Luigi, hello. Nice place you got here."

"Uh… grazie?"

"No, it's made of mycelium, it's not made of grass."

"Do you know where Peach is?" Queen Chanterelle asked, interjecting her husband's greeting.

"Peach? No, I haven't a'seen her."

The king and queen shared a worried expression.

"…what's going on?" Mario continued.

"We…" Mushroom replied awkwardly. "Think Peach is missing."

"What?!"

"The last time she was seen was when Mushroom saw her in the solar two days ago," Chanterelle elaborated. "She hasn't been seen since. She isn't in her room, her boudoir, anywhere."

"Y-Your daughter's been a'missing for two days and you're just noticing now?" Luigi chimed in, joining Mario in the doorway.

"Peach typically keeps to herself!" Chanterelle was defensive. "Sometimes we go a week without seeing each other. But this time I knew something was… off. I don't know where my daughter is."

"Well… We haven't seen her around." Mario shrugged a little. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Yes, there is. Can you find her?"

"Can we… Us?" Luigi was incredulous. "Why us?"

"You're new, greenie, so you haven't been around for all of Mario's misadventures with Peach." Mushroom replied to him. "Usually Mario's there to help her out of a sticky spot, or vice versa."

"Y-You can't get one of those guards you have to look for her?"

"Well…" The queen looked back at the guards. "Guards, cover your ears."

"Yes, your majesty!"

The guards put their hands over the sides of their mushroom caps. Whether this was actually where their ears were was unknown, but the notion itself was enough to slightly unsettle the brothers.

"The Toads are a bit…" Chanterelle rolled her hand to get the right word out. "…bad. At working when it comes to Peach. Especially when it comes to her safety, and especially when it comes to her possibly being hurt."

"Please, how bad could it a'be?"

To answer Mario's question, the king and queen parted to look behind them. The Toad Guards, sensing they were in the way, both stepped to the side, giving the four a view from the hilltop house to the palace down in Toad Town.

Even from afar, Mario and Luigi could see the Toads around scattering like ants in and out of the castle. They were toppling over each other, some of them doing things like tearing up grass and swimming in the moat in an effort to try and find their missing princess.

"WHERE'S THE PRINCESS? WHERE'S THE PRINCESS?!"

The piercing shriek of one Toad yelling in despair was just barely heard from the horrified brothers in the house. The king and queen turned back to the brothers in the doorway.

"You were saying?" Mushroom asked them wryly, rhetorically.

Chanterelle continued as the brothers still looked stunned. "The Toads all love Peach very, very dearly. We would send the Toad Brigade to look for her, but they're still looking for the roots of that Super-Duper-Awesome Tree or whatever it's called."

"The Super Happy Tree."

"Yes, that." The queen nodded at Luigi's correction. "I know I haven't been the most gracious to you since you've arrived to Toad Town, but you've helped her get out of sticky situations before- and though she is capable of handling herself, I fear she's put herself in deeper trouble than she can handle this time. Please, whether it be one or both of you… find my daughter. I beg you."

Mario scratched his head, looking at Luigi. His taller brother met his eyes, staring at him with the expectation that whatever Mario chose to do, Luigi would follow- as was typical of their dynamic.

With a huff through his nose that rustled his mustache, Mario turned to the monarchs and gave his answer: "Alright, fine."

"Excellent!" King Mushroom was genuinely happy now. "Where do you guys think she could've gone?"

"M-Maybe she went with that a'Toad Brigade?"

"I saw the group off when they went on their expedition," Chanterelle told Luigi. "She couldn't be with them. At least I don't think she is…"

"What about a'those Warp Pipes?" Mario asked.

"Oh heavens no." Chanterelle also replied to that, aghast. "The one in the castle is plugged, only the strength of fifty Toads could take it out. There's the one you came through, but that's in the woods."

"Hm." Mario scratched his head again. "I think we should a'just go to her room and see what we could find that might tell us where she went. That's what they always a'do on those detective shows."

"Mario! I didn't know you watched my detective shows! You always acted a'like you were reading!"

"It's a'hard to read when there's gunshots in the room, Weegi."

"I could grant you access to Peach's room," The queen said, bringing the brothers' attention back to her. "But only under strict supervision. I'm sure you understand."

"Please, it's no different than being back in Brooklyn." Grabbing his hat and gloves from the rack, Mario slipped them on, followed by Luigi as he stepped out. Mario locked the door. "Half the time you have a'someone over, you have to make sure they don't steal anything from your home."

"This Brooklyn you call home sounds increasingly perilous," Chanterelle spoke to them as they walked together as a group. The Toad Guards took up the back, ears still covered. "Why do you insist on returning to it if it's so dangerous?"

"Itsa our home. My mama is there, my pop is there, and other extended family members. It can be a little rough, but over everything, I want to make sure my parents a'know me and Luigi are okay."

"Hm. I suppose I can respect that notion at the very least."

"Is everywhere in the Metro Kingdom that dangerous?"

"Mushroom, please."

"What? I wanna know!"

"I hear more inland cities are a b-bit nicer," Luigi spoke up. "Brooklyn and Queens are so dangerous because it's a really big city. I think if it's smaller, the town is a'mostly nicer."

"Good to know!"

They strolled through town. As they passed through the brick streets, most Toads kept to themselves and didn't bother the group. Though this was also because of the town's newest attraction: the tailed tree that was still present near the center of town.

As they passed, they saw some Toads around the tree. A Toadette was using a disposable camera to take a photo of her Toad friends posing with the tree.

Though they most likely had seen the tree on the way to the Bros' house, both the king and queen were puzzled at the appearance of the strange looking tree. Chanterelle put her hand on her chin as she gazed upon it.

"This town is getting stranger and stranger." She murmured.

Approaching the castle grounds, the screams continued to rage on, making the brothers cover their ears. All the Toads were destroying the yard in pursuit of their missing princess. Nearby, one Toad fell to his knees on the lawn, tearing his shirt and sobbing as he screamed to the sky.

"WHY WASN'T IT ME? WHYYYYYY?!"

"Mamma Mia…" Mario grumbled. He spoke to the king and queen. "Peach has been gone before!"

"Yes, but they've told her where she's going." Chanterelle replied. "It's different when the princess just randomly disappears out of the blue."

"Peach's loving nature to the Toads, especially in the face of some of them thinking she's weird for not looking like a Toad, has gotten her in the good graces of every one of them in Toad Town." Mushroom added. "I mean, knowing my daughter, I'd be the same way."

The Toad Guards with them finally took their hands from their ears and stepped ahead, only to open the doors for the four. The monarchs and brothers stepped into the entrance hall, where it was much calmer there.

Toadsworth was there, standing in the center of the sun-shaped symbol at the bottom of the steps. He turned, his cane clicking on the tiles as he faced the group.

"Greetings my king and queen- as well as Master Mario and Master Luigi," He bowed slightly. "We haven't made any leeway in finding the princess."

"Thank you for the update, Toadsworth!" The king replied. "We're gonna go check her room. You keep checking the areas of the house- try the courtyard again!"

"Very well, pip pip!"

Toadsworth parted, walking away to follow the king's demands.

The Bros looked around, seeing a few more Toads indoors looking under things and rummaging through furniture to try and find any sign of Peach anywhere.

"Peach's room is upstairs," The king continued. "We'll get a guard to keep watch- hey, excuse me?"

Nearby, a Guard Toad was on the stairs, crying. After the king called out to him, the guard looked up and sniffled, before he started to sob twice as hard into his hands.

Chanterelle sighed. "How could this get any worse?"

The lights flickered above them, before the lights all shut off, plunging the palace in darkness. Toads everywhere inside screamed. It got worse.

In the dimness of the entrance hall, Mario and Luigi looked around. Chanterelle put her hands on her face before slowly sliding them down, sighing very deeply. The king turned to face the brothers.

"Well…" He said. "Looks like the moat is busted."

"The m-moat did this?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah, the palace's power is generated through a dam system connected to the moat. It uses water from the waterfall nearby, which comes from the Midas River, to generate electricity for us."

"The pipes must be acting up." Chanterelle added, hands still on her face.

"Yeah. Those dam pipes!" Mushroom shook a fist at his exclamation. He smiled after. "I've been waiting so long to make that joke."

"Are we still a'looking for Peach?" Mario asked.

"No, we need to fix this. We'll have to find someone to look at the pipes, like… a plumber."

Chanterelle slowly turned to look at the brothers. After a second, Mushroom seemed to get the same idea, turning and looking at the brothers expectantly.

"…I guess so?" Luigi was confused.

"They mean us, bro."

"Oh. Oh!"

"If you could, then we could get back to looking for the princess." Chanterelle said. "I'm sure it isn't anything really bad."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll do it. C'mon Weegi, letsa go."

"Okie dokie!"

Mario and Luigi hustled off to go downstairs, leaving the king and queen in the entrance hall- the king took his wife's hand as they were surrounded by panicking Toads.

They walked downstairs. Luigi looked around as he did, eyebrows raised in interest.

"I've never been in a castle before."

"You get used to it after the first few times."

"Oh yeah, because I know you're such a frequent visitor."

Mario sighed. "Luigi, not now."

"Alright, alright, I'll a'stop." Luigi waved his hand. "But you have to admit that the princess clearly a'likes you! Enough that she'll keep inviting you over. I wonder if—"

Rabid barking interrupted Luigi, making the green plumber leap into the air, arms thrashing as he was shocked by the noise. As they were on the landing that led into the castle's basement area, they stood in the wide entrance of the room, which allowed them to be seen by the Chain Chomp kept inside.

In Duchess' pen was now a few chew toys (made of wood so they wouldn't be destroyed instantly) a large bed specially ordered by Peach herself, and a sign on the wall that said her name proper. Duchess had stickers under her eyes, which included stars of all sizes, almost giving the Chain Chomp freckles in a way.

Upon seeing the Bros, she started barking, and continued to bark at them.

"Wh-What the heck is that?!"

"It's a Chain Chomp." Mario replied. "Don't a'worry, she's a'mostly harmless. Well… She's harmless with Peach. She hasn't really eased up when I try to feed her anything… Letsa keep going."

Though Luigi stayed behind to watch Duchess for another moment, he eventually followed his brother to continue down the stairs. They got to the door headed down to the undercroft, and Mario opened it up. They stepped in, though Mario could feel that something was attached to the other end of the door.

They walked in, and Mario looked back to see what was attached to the door- it was some kind of handle connected to a cover on the knob, hanging down. Clearly it was there in case a Toad (or a shrunken person that used a Super Mushroom) needed to get out. Learning from what happened when the princess and plumber went down before, this was added to amend that problem.

It was also a bright pink, so clearly it was from Peach.

They stepped down into the archives, which was moved around to look a little neater. Mario could see through the open space that the shelf that was accidentally broken during their little adventure down below was now replaced with a new bookshelf.

It was still dark and dank though. Still smelled like mildew.

"Th-Th-The moat controls are down a'here?" Luigi spoke, clearly anxious.

"They're through that dark, dark hallway over a'there."

Mario pointed towards the darkness that led to the other side of the undercroft. Luigi's eyes went wide and his face went pale, horrified at this chilling revelation.

"M-M-M-Mamma Mia…" Luigi mumbled shakily.

"C'mon, itsa not that bad. Just keep in mind we're gonna be walking through water at some point."

They marched through the annex, and as they strode into the dark, Mario felt Luigi grab onto the back of his overalls' suspenders- most likely just to make sure the brothers would stay together while they fumbled around in shadow.

Eventually, the torches on the wall lit up automatically to show their path. Mario thought of how lucky it was that these torches apparently didn't work on electricity, but something else entirely.

They soon reached light, their shoes splashing in the shallow water that made up this area of the undercroft. Luigi let go of Mario's suspenders, walking up to stand beside him. He gripped the straps of his work backpack gently, clearly anxious.

Mario put his hands on his hips, looking down the corridors on either side of them.

"Wh-Where's the control station, bro?"

"I'm a'not sure, Weegi. But we're gonna find it."

Remembering how the corridors worked last time, Mario let Luigi follow him around as they walked around the area. He didn't quite get why the hallways were set up this way, as it would probably just be much easier to have this all open space. Then again, there were massive rooms above this area, so having hallways instead of a massive open space was probably a design necessity.

They passed by the massive painting of the fireball-with-a-face. Peach had told Mario that the painting was in her father's art style- he wondered why he would paint something as strange as this, and then place it down where nobody could see it…

Mario kept moving, trying to keep focused on the mission at hand.

At one corner of the corridor, placed directly on a tapered corner, there was a door. It was cracked open, just wide enough for Mario to peek inside- as he did, he could see that there was a bunch of machinery in there. There was a console with a slow blinking red light, to indicate some kind of error.

"Here we go."

Luigi slapped Mario's arm. "Mario, look!"

Following the way Luigi was pointing, Mario could see down one of the corridors they were in that there was a rabbit there- the same one that Peach had told him about back when they were little in the undercroft. He finally got a good look at it here: it was a mostly white rabbit, with the ends of his ears yellow with five points on each, and a yellow cottontail.

And in its mouth was a device that had a round meter on the top. It glimmered in the light as, also hearing Luigi, the rabbit turned its head to look at the brothers on the other end of the hall.

"Peach's rabbit." Mario murmured. "And is that…?"

"That's a pressure regulator! It must be what's causing the dam a'not to work!"

After a second's pause to let the brothers see it, suddenly the rabbit bolted off, bouncing through the shallow water in the opposite direction.

Both Mario brothers quickly scrambled forwards after it.

"Hey!"

"Get back here!"

Barely following along with the quick hare, Mario and Luigi chased after the little rabbit as he rushed through the water with the pressure regulator in its mouth. The brothers were sloppy, even crashing into one another as they tried to turn a corner to chase the rabbit.

They hit another corner, bumping into one another and flipping their hats off their heads. They quickly grabbed a hat and put it on to chase after the rabbit again- both brothers immediately discovered they had on the wrong colored hat and swapped as they ran.

Continuing to splash, the rabbit turned a familiar corner. Mario grabbed Luigi's arm and rushed forwards, turning around in a full U-turn to head down the other hallway.

It was a dead end, but Mario knew that. The rabbit was paused, looking back as if expecting the brothers to be there. After that was assured, the rabbit leapt into the wall, passing through it and letting it ripple like gelatin after it did.

Mario and Luigi stopped in front of the pulsing wall, both of them left looking at the small lotus flower symbol on one of the bricks there.

While he was breathing heavily, Luigi stared at the wall with wide eyes. "H-Huh?!"

"We gotta go after that rabbit!"

"Mario, what—?"

Before Luigi could question it, Mario grabbed him by the arm again, and the pair passed through the wall into a world of white.

---

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Luigi was screaming when he entered the land of shifting sand. He had his arms around his face, but once he realized he was still standing, he lowered them slowly and looked around.

In contrast to his brother, Mario stood there, thumbs on his suspenders. He knew to let his brother work it out on his own, as trying to calm him down more often than not only made Luigi more freaked out. However, seeing his brother's nonchalantness made Luigi realize that this was something normal to him.

"Mario, you…?"

"Yeah."

"Wh-What…?"

"I dunno."

"Oh, M-M-Mamma Mia…" Luigi put his hand on his forehead, still freaked out.

The sound of pitter-patter attracted their attention. The rabbit was continuing to run away, zooming away through the nearby sand and kicking a lot of it up.

"C'mon!"

Mario ran after the rabbit. Luigi followed after a scrambling hop, still frazzled but pushing forwards.

Passing by a big dune, threading the needle between that and a swirling pool of sand, Mario and Luigi watched as the rabbit reached an open structure made of stone. The rabbit jumped upwards, leaping up on top of the structure's roof, disappearing over the edge.

Though the duo were fast, something slowly slid in the path of Mario and Luigi- the brothers slid to a stop in the sand, looking up at it. It was massive, made up of multiple prickly yellow spheres, almost like balls made out of golden cacti. It had eyes, looking down at the brothers, with a big red flower on the very top of its head like a hat.

It didn't attack immediately, but it was in their way nonetheless. Mario reached under his hat and scratched his head in thought.

In the stillness, they heard something: there was humming nearby. It was soft, pleasant, and was clearly replicating a tune. Mario and Luigi both turned to see a figure in a pink dress, obscured by a yellow and blue parasol.

Peach was facing away from the brothers, looking towards the pyramid that was nearby. She was near a whirlpool of quicksand as well, looking towards both the pyramid and the four pillars that were on each corner of the massive structure. There was a large bird flying around the pyramid in a circle.

"Peach!"

It took a second, but Peach turned around after hearing Mario call out to her. She turned, showing she was writing in a journal- the archivist's journal from before. With one hand, she closed the notebook with a small clap after seeing both brothers a few yards away.

"Mario, Luigi!" She identified them. "What are you two doing here?"

"What're we doing here- what are you doing here, Peach?" Mario asked as he and Luigi walked up. "Everyone's out there a'looking for you!"

"What? I've only been gone a few hours."

"Peach, you've been a'missing for two days."

"What?!" Peach held her hand to her lips in shock. "But the sun hasn't even set here! How is that… Oh goodness, mother and father… All the Toads!"

"Why haven't you left?"

"Because the only way we left the last time was getting crushed by that…" Peach opened the journal again before continuing. "Tox Box! That's what it's called. Anyway, I don't want to get hurt to have to leave!"

"I guess that's a fair point. But you gotta get back, now! Right after we get that pressure regulator from that rabbit that hopped into here. Right, Luigi?"

Nearby, Luigi stepped past the pair to look at the pyramid and the pillars around it. He watched the bird flying around with wide eyes, breathing heavily and sweating both from the heat and the weight of everything happening at the moment.

After a woozy sigh, Luigi swayed and passed out, landing on his back in the sand. Mario and Peach leaned in to look over him on either side of his body, Peach's fingers still touching her lips.

"Is he okay?"

"He's a'fine." Mario replied. "He just gets overwhelmed a'very easily."

"You didn't have to bring him here."

"He would've come eventually. Luigi's anxiety and fear is a'curbed very easily by his determination to ensure things will be okay. It's probably what led him to the castle to find you and I in the first place."

Peach sunk the end of her parasol into the sand, letting the shade created by the umbrella to cover Luigi's face. Mario took of his hat, giving Luigi's hat to Peach, and the pair began to fan the passed out plumber with both of them.

"What have you even been a'doing in this place?"

"Mostly just looking around. Answering questions I have." The princess replied. "Like those boxes, Tox Boxes. Or those Pokeys- that sentient stack of cacti over there? They're both native to the Sand Kingdom."

"What are two creatures from another kingdom doing in the basement of your castle?"

"I have no idea! I know the climates of the Mushroom Kingdom can be a little crazy, but I never expected to find a whole Shifting Sand Land through some kind of magic wall! That's my name for it by the way: Shifting Sand Land."

"Very a'nice. I think it'll stick."

"Sure hope so!"

After another second, Luigi woke back up with a gasp. He sat up, barely missing the rim of the parasol. Peach handed him back his hat- after a second, Luigi took it and put it back on his head.

With the others on either side of him, Luigi stood up. Mario picked up the parasol and handed it back to the princess behind his brother's back.

"Wh-What is this place?"

"We don't a'know."

"We're calling it the Shifting Sand Land!" Peach said to Luigi. "But other than that, we don't know anything about why it's here, or where it is. Logistically, it shouldn't even exist in the castle, it wouldn't fit."

"Peach knows about a'the creatures in here, though."

"Yeah! Like the Tox Boxes or the Pokeys!" She handed the journal to Luigi. "I made my own annotations in pink. Just to update the information as I see it."

Luigi opened the journal. "…whose is this?"

"Archivist Toadette's!"

"But the name on the front page says 'Titania'."

"Yeah! That's her name! Archivist Toadette is just a title."

"Oh…" Luigi flipped through the pages.

After fanning himself momentarily with the hat, Mario went to put his cap back on his head. However, before it could happen, it was snatched from his hands.

A massive bird, one with dark feathers and a beak that had a black tip, swooped down and grabbed it before Mario could put it back on his head. The bird flew through the air, watched by a shocked Mario as it soared with his cap in the talons of the big bird.

Peach and Luigi noticed immediately, turning to watch with Mario as the bird flew to one of the pillars and perched there with the hat in its claws.

"Luigi, turn to the bird sections! It's marked with orange tabs!"

"Oh! Uh…" Luigi turned through the journal. "…it's a condor."

"It's a thief is what it is!"

Mario ran to the edge of the sand, right before where the shifting quicksand was starting. He looked up at the pillar the condor was on, shaking a fist to it.

"HEY!" He yelled. "Porca vacca! Give me back my cap you fat little Klepto! Mi hai proprio rotto le scatole!" In anger, Mario stomped his foot in the sand as hard as he could while he screamed.

Peach held her hand over her mouth in shock. Luigi covered his ears, wincing.

"Cavolo…" He murmured.

"Is he alright?" Peach asked Luigi, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, he's just… particular about his a'hat." Luigi replied. "There was this kid we lived next to growing up, he would a'steal Mario's hat and force him to buy it back using our entire allowance."

"Let me guess, this guy nowadays likes eating whole heads of garlic?"

"Y-Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Mario told me about that guy… You think he'll be okay?"

"He's a'not gonna stop until he gets his hat back."

"Well… As long as we find a way out of here, I'm sure it'll all work out."

Mario stomped back over, still grumbling under his breath, gripping his gloved hands. He shook his head quickly to try and break the hold his anger had over him, and took a deep breath.

"Peach…" He spoke. "Can you float over and get my hat?"

"Float?"

"I can only do that horizontally, not vertically, Mario."

"What does he mean by a'float?" Luigi asked Peach.

"I have some kind of magic leg power that lets me to stall in the air for a short time."

"…I think I'm a'gonna faint again." The green plumber put his hand on his forehead again, sighing.

"No time! We have to get a'my hat back."

"And get the princess back home!"

"Oh, yeah. That too."

The trio walked closer to the stone pavilion structure, the princess striding between the two brothers as they approached. Mario held his hand over his eyes to look towards the roof of the structure with the others, no longer having a hat to keep himself shaded.

They saw the rabbit peeking over the edge for a moment before disappearing once again, clearly content with staying on the roof to keep away from the three. After a second, the Pokey crept back in front of them, breaking their sight of the roof's edge.

"I followed that rabbit into here too." Peach said to the brothers, looking between both of them. "If you saw it back in the undercroft, that means there's a way it can go back and forth from here and the castle."

"So not only a'do we need to get the rabbit for the pressure regulator, but to find a way out."

"Two birds with a'one stone!"

"How are we gonna get up a'there though?"

"Well I don't know if it'll help us get up there, but I found something strange that wasn't in Titania's journal. We just have to wait for the Pokey to get out of the way."

Soon enough, the tall cactus creature crept out of the way. Following the princess, the brothers walked into the open area of the stone pavilion, passing by a pillar to see the strange object floating in the air in the center of the structure's inside space.

It was a glowing yellow box with a question mark scrolling across each surface.

They stood under the ? Block, looking at the blank underside of the floating box.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure," The princess answered Mario. "Like I said, the journal didn't say anything about these things. I don't think it's alive."

"The question marks remind a'me of a casino." Luigi added.

"Well, letsa see what we can win from it!"

With Super Mushroom strength, Mario jumped high into the air, directly into the underside of the ? Block. The block bounced upwards, the yellow block instantly turning a dull brown, and something popped out of the top, propelled up from the force of the punch to the underside.

"Are those… Fire Flowers?"

Peach's identification was correct. Three Fire Flowers were flung from the top, hopping out and landing right-side up on the stone floor, appearing almost like they grew up from the floor in the first place.

"Those look like a'flowers from the Super Happy Tree!"

"I'm guessing they are, paisano." Mario said to his brother. "Peach and I have used them before though! Grab onto one, bro, it'll be cool!"

Though Luigi was hesitant, all three of them grabbed onto the flowers, letting them turn into fire that crawled over their body and changed their appearances. Similar to his brother, Luigi's overall turned his shirt's color- green- while his hat and undershirt turned a bright white. Without a hat, Mario simply had red overalls and a white shirt.

After getting the flower, all three of them noticed how it stopped being so hot in the Shifting Sand Land. It appeared the Fire Flower gave them the added bonus of being resistant to heat.

"This is incredible! Why did that question block have three flowers just on standby?" Peach asked, watching fire roll between her fingers.

"I dunno, but I'm glad it did! I can use this to fry that a'little Klepto to a crisp."

Fire Luigi looked at how Peach was summoning fire, and looked at his own hands. He felt heat buzzing underneath his palms, and willing it to life, green fire appeared in Luigi's hands. The change in fire color immediately gained the attention of Mario and Peach.

"Hey, how come Luigi gets other colored fire?"

"…aesthetic?" Luigi shrugged, hands still ablaze as he answered Peach's question.

"Hmph. I wanted pink fire…" Peach frowned, extinguishing the fire in her own hands.

"I don't know why I'm so special, but I guess I'm a'just— AAAH!"

Luigi's shriek alerted Mario and Peach to intruders in the area, along with a point to the source of terror. It was a three-stack of Goombas, who waddled up onto the stone surface.

"Luigi! It's just a couple of Goombas!"

"A-A couple what?!"

"Don't worry, Weegi, these guys are a'harmless."

The three-stack leaned backwards before flinging the top Goomba at them, almost like a missile. Luigi ducked, pulling his hat over his head to cover his eyes as he did, letting the Goomba soar over him.

"Nevermind!"

The bottom Goomba flung the one remaining on top of it towards Peach, who lifted her parasol and blocked the flying creature with it, letting the Goomba bounce off and back onto the ground. As that Goomba got itself back up, Peach spun towards it, still holding the parasol on her shoulder but using her free hand to blast the little creature with fire, destroying it instantly.

Meanwhile, the Goomba that was launched at Luigi was rolling back onto its feet. Mario jumped up in the air, grabbing the now empty block to swing himself around, pushing off so he could land on top of the Goomba with both feet, crushing it into a puff of dust.

One left, and it had its eyes on Luigi. The anxious plumber opened his eyes to see the last Goomba rushing towards him, mouth open and eyes crazed.

Luigi held both his hands out, launching a fireball from both hands, an orange one that had green wisps of flame around the outside. It connected with the Goomba, whose face turned to shock right before the fireball hit it, and it immediately burst in a puff of smoke. However, after connecting with the Goomba, the fireball split into five smaller green fireballs.

The green fireballs bounced around the area, making both Peach and Mario slide out of the way of the small green fireballs. Two hit the pillars of the pavilion and extinguished, one hit the whirlpool of sand nearby and disappeared, and another hit the sliding sand at the edge of the pyramid and disappeared. However, the fifth and final fireball bounced and exited the pavilion, hitting one of the balls that made up the body of the Pokey.

It was quiet. Luigi slowly stood, his eyes freed from his hat. There was a small rumbling as the Pokey was starting to move, and all three in the structure watched as the Pokey's eyes appeared from the edge of the ceiling, its head upside down to look inside.

Seeing the green theme Luigi had, and knowing it was hit by a green fireball, the Pokey was intelligent enough to gather who hit its body, intentional or not. Its body leaned backwards and whipped towards the three, which sent one of the cactus balls of the Pokey flying off its body and into the structure, hitting Luigi dead on and sending him flying back.

"Luigi!"

Mario and Peach rushed out, stepping into the sand behind the structure, going to Luigi. Laying on his back, Luigi was visibly dazed, his clothes back to their normal color as the damage he took returned him back to his normal, Super Mushroom enhanced self.

"Are you okay, bro?"

"Ugh… Today's not a'my day…"

The ground rumbled beneath them, the feeling of shifting sand prevalent under their feet. A few feet from Luigi's feet, the sand broke as the Pokey emerged from the ground, staring down at the three with doll-like, blank eyes.

It leaned back, bending backwards in preparation to slam its head into the ground. Mario grabbed Luigi's suspenders and Peach grabbed his legs, hauling the green plumber out of the way before the Pokey could bash its head into the sand. While its head was down, the Pokey's head slowly turned so its eyes could watch where the trio went as it was bent over.

After they were out of the way, Peach let go of Luigi's legs, letting Mario pull his brother to his feet by yanking Luigi's overalls up. Luigi caught himself, stumbling a second as he was still recovering but ultimately being fine.

Mario rushed towards the now hostile Pokey, with Luigi following in tow. Peach closed her parasol and tucked it under her arm, opening up her purse to retrieve the journal. She flipped through, wanting to find anything that could help them beat this creature and carry on.

Nearby, behind Peach, the whirlpool of sand suddenly picked up speed. From the force of the spinning, a tornado suddenly appeared. Whether the whirlpool was made by the twister or the twister from the whirlpool was ultimately unknown, but the appearance of the cyclone was unheard from Peach until it was too late.

Pulled in by her dress, Peach yelled out as she was yanked into the suction of the tornado. She screamed as she was spun around, still holding her parasol and the journal as her arms stuck out at her sides.

Rising out from the top of the tornado, Peach floated down for a moment as she continued to spin. However, as she wasn't sure what was happening, Peach ended the spinning with thrashing arms and legs, letting go of her umbrella and journal.

Flipping down through the air, Peach landed in the sand a few yards away from the Pokey and the brothers, landing on her face. She hit the scorpion pose for a moment before her legs flopped down, letting her lay face-down, her dress returning to its pink shade as she lost her fire power. The journal landed beside her head, and her parasol- which opened on its own in the air- floated gently down. Its pole sunk into the sand, allowing the umbrella to shield the back of Peach's head from the sun.

The brothers didn't have a moment's peace to worry about the princess now that they were fighting the Pokey. Mario threw a fireball like a baseball into the Pokey, but watched as it burst into nothing, not even damaging the plantlike exterior of the creature.

Fireballs wouldn't work. Now it was time to improvise.

The Pokey slammed its head down into the sand once more, making the brothers split up. Mario tried to jump up onto the back of the Pokey's head, but the creature couldn't be destroyed by a simple hop onto its head. It flung itself back upwards, launching Mario up into the air.

Seeing his brother coming down, Luigi leapt up, his feet kicking as he scuttled across the air to get in the path of his falling brother. Luigi caught Mario, intercepting him and flipping through the air. They both landed in the sand, both dazed, but the extra assist from Luigi kept Mario from losing his fire power.

Mario got up, helping Luigi to his feet. The Pokey got back up, whipping its body back and towards them to launch another cactus ball at the brothers.

After a quick glance to one another, Mario and Luigi stood shoulder to shoulder, standing their ground as they've done in Brooklyn before. Together, they made a pushing motion as the Pokey ball reached them, which was enough to deflect the projectile back towards its sender.

The ball hit another ball of the Pokey, which knocked it out of place. Luigi noticed this, his eyebrows raising.

They had to split again after the Pokey slammed its head back into the ground. Mario set his hands ablaze, grabbing onto the flower on the top of the Pokey's head in an effort to hurt it somehow. Unfortunately, this flower was also fireproof, and instead Mario was yanked into the air as the Pokey leaned back to stand upright.

Mario let go before he could be thrown upwards again, falling only a few feet back into the soft sand, landing on his back. The Pokey was over him, casting a shadow over Mario before leaning backwards in anticipation of another head slam.

Luigi pulled his backpack to his front, rummaging through it and pulling out a pipe wrench- the Bros' trusty pipe wrench, given to them by their mother and her mother before them. It was red, the paint worn down, but with green duct tape wrapped around the bottom part of the handle for good grip.

Gripping the pipe wrench with both hands, Luigi swung it like a bat, knocking one of the cactus balls of the Pokey's body out of order. Without that ball, as the Pokey swung downwards it suddenly found itself without any support from its body, making it faceplant into the sand at Mario's feet.

While the creature was down, Mario quickly got up. He slid into place and kicked the Pokey's head like a soccer ball, using a fiery foot to send it flying across the air. The blazing Pokey head hit a nearby pillar, which caused Klepto- the bird with Mario's hat- to caw and fly away from fear.

"Yeah, you better run!" Mario yelled after it, angry again.

The headless cactus balls of the Pokey slowly sunk into the sand. Luigi put the wrench back in his backpack. Both the brothers immediately sought out Peach, rushing towards the princess.

"P-Princess! Are you okay?"

Peach picked herself up, her hair hanging over her face, both now covered in sand.

"I hate sand." She murmured. "At least when I go to Delfino the sand is a given. I'd wear a cute pink sundress, something that doesn't have dozens of folds made of porous fabric, and I would be sure to not get anything in my clothing!"

"But you're okay, a'right?" Mario asked.

"No! My dress is full of sand from that tornado!" Peach patted the skirt of her dress to try and smack sand out from her petticoat. She was surprised to see a comb provided by Luigi's backpack. "Oh, thank you, Luigi. You're a saint." She combed her hair to get the sand out. "We need to get out of here."

"We're a'trying! We just need to catch that rabbit. Wherever it is…"

"Bro! Over there!"

Luigi pointed to a section of the Shifting Sand Land made up of stone platforms placed over a bunch of quicksand. On it, flipping along the surface, were Tox Boxes- the same thing that crushed Mario and Peach the last time they were here.

On path was the rabbit, who looked back almost to show the group it still had the pressure regulator. The rabbit bounced across the stone path, the Tox Box flipping towards it. The rabbit paused as it came across the Tox Box, but this was intentional- the open surface of the Tox Box perfectly went over the rabbit, allowing it to survive standing in the path of the boxlike creature and carry on after the Tox Box rolled past.

Mario picked up Peach's parasol, and Luigi picked up her journal, the brothers handing them both back to Peach. She took them from the brothers, putting the journal back in her purse before they all moved forwards to pursue.

There were three Tox Boxes on the platform maze area of this Shifting Sand Land. One kept rolling around in the entrance of the maze, showing the white space inside and the different painted faces of each surface on the outside.

As they walked up to the first path blocked by the Tox Box, they paused to watch it roll in their way, pausing for a second as it tilted over to each surface. It landed right-side up in front of them, showing the almost graffiti-like frowny face that was facing them while the opening was facing the ground.

Suddenly, as it tilted away to do its path in reverse, the Tox Box revealed that it had something hidden underneath its space. It was a round black ball with feet, a wind-up key on its back, a silver top and eyes.

This creature is known to many as a Bob-omb. But they don't know it yet, so don't tell them, okay?

Upon seeing the Bob-omb, the trio were surprised. When the Bob-omb saw the heroes, it turned and started to rush towards them, the silver top on its head starting to sizzle and spark. When that happened, it became clear what this creature was- though the name was still unknown to them.

The three started to panic.

"Mario, do something!"

"Uhhh, Luigi, you got this?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M A'GONNA DO?!"

"Just do something, one of you!"

"Uhhh…!"

As the Bob-omb got closer, Mario stepped forwards and punted it away. It was light enough that it flew up into the air, flipping backwards, before it exploded a few yards away and above them. The three still shielded their faces even if the explosion was very minor- barely something over what some fireworks could do.

Seeing they were safe, they all let out a sigh of relief.

In their time spent figuring out what to do with the Bob-omb and pausing after its ignition, the Tox Box had repeated its path ahead of them. It landed open side down in front of them again, paused a moment, and then flipped back to reverse its path again, revealing three Bob-ombs in front of them now.

They all noticed the trio and ignited, starting to run right towards them.

"Alright, forget this, letsa go!"

At Mario's statement, Peach and Luigi both followed him as he sprinted away. They all vaulted over the trio of Bob-ombs in their path, making all of them turn around and start following. Mario, Luigi and Peach all split up on the stony path, with Mario even doing a long jump to reach a part of the maze over the quicksand.

Luigi went right. He scrambled away, even rushing on all fours as he turned a corner to try and escape the sentient detonator trying to blow him up.

This was not a good direction to go. The border of this strange sub-dimension-whatever was close to this side of the platform maze. Luigi had another stroke of bad luck in this case, because he was now trapped with a Tox Box ahead of him and a Bob-omb closing in.

He saw the faces of the Tox Box as it continued to flip around in front of him. The inside was white, with circular crossed out symbols all across it.

That thing was made up of super thick walls. If Luigi wasn't careful, that thing could easily flip over onto him and crush him as flat as dried linguine. But then again… those walls being so thick probably meant it could keep him safe from the outside.

Luigi looked over his shoulder. The Bob-omb was throbbing and orange, clearly about to detonate right behind him. The Tox Box was closing in ahead of him, and showed its inside before it started to tilt forwards to get right side up again.

After a small noise to show his nervousness and terror, Luigi took the risk and dived forwards. He just made it through the closing gap as the Tox Box closed down around him. The Bob-omb exploded as soon as Luigi was enclosed in the box.

Undeterred, The Tox Box rolled away through the smoke. Luigi was left there, safe and sound, having held his hat over his eyes to crouch down in anticipation of being hurt. But he wasn't hurt, he was fine.

Luigi quickly skittered to a larger gathering of platforms that this side led to, and watched as the Tox Box ignored this area to continue its path. He sighed, leaning down on his knees to collect himself after all that stress.

When he opened his eyes, he saw he was standing on something strange- it was a surface unlike the stone ones around him, Luigi thought maybe it was metal. It was colored a navy blue, with a Bob-omb of a reddish color in the center.

He tilted his head curiously, crouching down to look it over again. Luigi looked up and saw Mario nearby, still running.

"Hey bro, I found some weird a'thing over here!"

"What is it?" Mario asked as he ran.

"I don't really know, but it has one of those bomb things on it. But it's a red one! Or maybe fuchsia? I don't a'know, the colors seem ambiguous."

"We'll look at it later, Luigi, just get to the other side of the platforms!"

Peach had yelled to the green plumber as she continued to sprint away from the Bob-omb chasing her. She had gone left, which was the better direction, as she was headed towards solid land on another side of the pyramid.

She had come to the same conclusion that Luigi had- the thick walls making up the Tox Box was powerful enough to protect and destroy, and she knew as such from her last time being here. With one hand holding up her dress she ran, knowing the pulsing Bob-omb behind her was bound to erupt at any given second.

Ahead of her was a Tox Box, but she could tell that she was far past the position to be spared by the box's opening. That's what she was counting on, though.

The princess liked to believe she had a grip on her cool floaty powers. As of right now, it really depended on Peach having to be in imminent danger for it to kick in- it was like a shot of adrenaline, almost, but without the actual adrenaline.

She was between a bomb and a hard place. The perfect scenario to float.

Peach grabbed her dress with her other hand (or at least as well as she could with her parasol still in it) and jumped off the platforms outright. The underside of her skirt suddenly glimmered with pink and gold sparkles as her hypothesis rang true.

She stalled in midair, floating in one spot as she watched the Bob-omb barely turn to try and come after her. It was too late, however, as the evil smirking face of the Tox Box came down on top of the walking bomb, crushing it.

The Bob-omb exploded. The force of the blast was enough to make the Tox Box hop a bit, but once it was back on the stone platform it continued its path.

"Yes!"

Peach's happiness was interrupted as her sparkles dissipated, nearly sending her into the quicksand. She managed to grab onto the stone platforms, though her pink heels came off her feet, flopping into the sand and slowly sinking into places unknown.

She looked back at them. "No! My fourth favorite pair!"

The princess had to focus. She climbed back on, using her parasol to pick herself up even, now standing on the stone with stocking-covered feet. It felt hot, but the covering made it bearable for now.

The Tox Box was coming back. Peach quickly ran away to escape the crushing sides of the cube, picking up her dress with one hand once again.

At the end of the maze, the Bob-omb chasing after Mario hopped a little as it turned the final corner. However, after it did, Mario was there, as if expecting it.

Mario simply swept his foot, kicking the bomb to the side, letting it hit the sand nearby and slowly sink in. The plumber blocked his eyes as its detonation kicked up some sand, but leaned forwards to look into the quicksand just to make sure it was gone.

CAW CAW

The sound of a bird nearby immediately caught Mario's attention. He turned, seeing that condor up above on a pillar that was just a few yards away. It still had Mario's hat, holding it in one of its claws.

Upon seeing the Klepto that took his hat, Mario's face turned a bright pink, his mustache turning downwards. He summoned a fireball from his hand and hurled it at the bird, but only managed to hit the pillar below.

The bird didn't react. Well it did, but all it did was turn its head to look at Mario blankly. That isn't much, but it was certainly enough to set off that red Italian even bigger than anything a Bob-omb could do.

Swearing in Italian, Mario rushed to the pillar, still holding fire in his hands. Luigi and Peach were just reaching the end of the platforms, watching their friend sprint towards the bird that stole his hat.

"Mario, no!"

Luigi's pleas went unheard. Mario continued to run.

Whether this world's gravity was wonky, or that Mario was genuinely so angry he was defying the laws of physics, it wasn't certain- and yet the plumber ran up the pillar, sprinting up vertically to reach this bird.

The condor watched him. Then when Mario got to the top, and dove in to grab the bird, the Klepto simply flapped its wings and left its perch quickly.

Mario missed his mark sailing over the top of the pillar and directly towards the ground. He hit the sand in front of the pyramid- but it wasn't good sand, it was quicksand. Mario almost instantaneously sunk down into the ground.

"MARIO!"

"Luigi!" Peach grabbed Luigi's arm before he could go for his brother. "He's okay! He's okay, remember? We've been here before, and we're fine! It's alright!"

"A-Are you sure?!"

"I'm sure! He's fine, I promise you. At the very most he probably had a bit of a turbulent exit."

---

Mario landed on his face when he was flung back into the entrance hall of the castle.

He was back in his standard color scheme- red shirt, blue overalls- reverted back to how he looked before he entered the Shifting Sand Land. Unfortunately, that world still kept his hat, as it was still absent from his head after being stolen by that bird.

"What in the world?"

The exclamation came from the queen, who was nearby with the king beside her. They had stayed in the lobby of the palace while the power was out to ensure they could speak to any of the Toads that came in asking about Peach. It was better than the Toads getting lost in the dark and screaming as a result.

Slowly, Mario picked himself up, grumbling. "Stupid bird…"

"Mario, are you okay?"

"I'm a'fine." He replied to the king. "Ugh, that could have gone better."

"Where were you? How did you get here? Did you find Peach?"

Mario was about to answer, but paused. He thought to himself for a second or two, recalling how many times he had spoken to Peach about her parents.

The king and queen were fairly neurotic, very overprotective of Peach and had secrets they were willing to punish people to keep. Did they know about the Shifting Sand Land? Did they put it there? What would happen to Peach if they discovered the princess went there?

He was only quiet for a moment before he answered. "...she's okay."

"Where is she?"

"I… can't a'really explain it."

The king and queen glanced at each other.

"You went downstairs." Mushroom said. "Is she in the castle?"

"You could a'say that, yeah."

"Why has she been away so long?"

"She's been… journaling."

"Can't we go see her?"

"You will." Mario assured them. "Look, don't a'worry. Peach is gonna be back real soon- by the end of the day, even. I can't really explain what's going on, but… Just know she's safe. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Mario walked away, headed back to the stairs so he could return to trying to get his hat back. As he did, a small trail of sand was left behind from his shoes and the inside of his pants, which the monarchs both saw on the floor.

Left behind, Mushroom and Chanterelle watched Mario leave before turning to one another. The Toads around them were still mostly in a panic, ignoring the king and queen, allowing them to speak privately at a low volume.

"She spoke about paintings earlier. About the Lethal Lava one I made before she was born."

"Mushroom… You don't think…?"

"She can't know, not now. There's no way she could've found out. At least I don't think there is." The king replied. "I think she's still in the dark, and what's happening right now was just an accident. But they don't know that we might know more than them. Let's just keep it together for now and let them think we're oblivious to keep it all from unraveling."

Chanterelle nodded, hand on her chin as her gaze returned to the door Mario left through. She felt Mushroom's arm go around her, and she leaned against her husband as they were both left to their own thoughts.

---

Peach wasn't sure how long it had been since Mario left, but her and Luigi had made up for lost time by spying on the rabbit.

The other side of the stone pathways had led to some kind of oasis. At the very least it was an area with some water and a palm tree that both her and Luigi were standing under.

Using a pair of binoculars that Luigi had in his bag, Peach was looking at the Rabbit as it hopped around one of the pillars, clearly just killing a bit of time. It still had the pressure regulator in its mouth, and every now and again it would look at the pair, almost ensuring that Peach and Luigi were still following it.

There was a tapping on her arm. She removed the binoculars to see Luigi was offering her some food- a piece of durian. Time was so strange here she didn't even realize she hadn't eaten while in the Shifting Sand Land.

"Oh! Thanks, Luigi."

Peach ate the offered piece of durian. It was delicious- she always loved durian, especially from Isle Delfino, even if the inside smelled like the depths of a rotting sewer at first. That's why she always had her Chef Toads keep gas masks on when they opened one up, as the intense stench was enough to even make them pass out.

"How are we a'gonna get the rabbit, Peach?"

"Hm. It's definitely faster than we are." The princess replied after she finished her food. "We most likely will have to lead it somewhere where it can't run."

"You mean we should a'corner it?"

"Yes! That'll work nicely."

Past the dunes that the rabbit was in front of, Peach and Luigi saw a flaming Pokey head fly across the air and into the pyramid. It caught their attention, and once it was followed by Italian swearing, they knew who did it.

"Mario's back!"

"Oh thank goodness…" Luigi sighed with relief. "I'm gonna be honest, I thought a'when you told me he'd be back, you were lying to try and make a'me feel better."

"You should believe me more often."

Peach put her binoculars back up to look at the rabbit again.

"Hiya!"

The third voice surprised the princess and the plumber, making them both let out a short scream of surprise. Then they saw it came from a Bob-omb, which only made them scream again, this time one of terror.

This Bob-omb was just about the same, but was that same fuschia-ish color Luigi saw before.

"Hey, it's alright!" The bomb said.

"Th-The bomb is talking!"

"I'm a Red Bob-omb! We're pacifists!"

"A red bomb-bomb?" Peach asked.

"Bob-omb! B-O-B dash O-M-B!" The Bob-omb Buddy said. "The ones you saw before were created with the black magic of the Dark Lands, making them pure evil! The red ones like me are ones who broke free of the magic and became good! Not all of us are red, but it's a key trait a lot of us share!"

"What are you a'doing here?"

"Keeping watch on our cannon! Us Red Bob-ombs have cannons we use typically for transport! Of goods, and ourselves! You want me to activate the cannon here?"

"Uh… Sure?"

There was a pause. The pair could hear a whirring sound, which led them to walk around the pyramid and back near the stone platforms. That area Luigi was in before now had an open space right in the middle.

"Hm. I wonder if that'll come in handy." Peach thought to herself. She looked at the Red Bob-omb. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! I'll be back by the water if you need me again. I'm trying to get my tan in!"

The Red Bob-omb waddled away, returning back from whence they came.

While they were positioned at the very end of that maze, they could spot Mario across the way, around the stone pavilion. Luigi and Peach watched as Mario punched the ? Block, and only a single fire flower popped out.

"Interesting…"

Peach pulled out the archivist's notebook, using her pink pen to write in more information about the question block. It seemed that it had some kind of proximity sensor that provided the amount of power-ups needed for the people in that area.

"Is he still trying to get a'his hat back?"

"He's your brother, you said he won't stop until he gets it back."

"I know, but a'right now?"

They watched as Mario blasted fire into three Goombas, destroying them instantly. From the looks of it, these creatures just magically reappeared after a short time. It kind of took away from how hard the three fought against them, but whatever.

The Bob-ombs were next.

"What's he doing now?"

"Looks like he's facing off against those evil Bob-ombs, Luigi."

"H-He's a'running right towards them! Those things are gonna blow him up!"

"He's… Oh wow! He just made one explode with his fire power!"

"But the others are a'gonna get him! Mario, look out!"

"Whoa, he just jumped over that one with the coolest backflip I've ever seen!"

"Mario was one a'the top performers in gymnastics, that doesn't surprise me much."

"Oh wow, is he beating one of those Bob-ombs senseless with the other one?"

"You do not wanna mess with Mario when he's this upset."

"Now he's bouncing that last Bob-omb on the ground!"

"Like a basketball. Mario played basketball with some guys in the neighborhood court we had. He was more into the other sports a'though. Tennis, baseball, soccer. He'd play golf with me sometimes."

"Look at that! How can you two jump so high?"

"We're just good at jumping. Jumpmen if you will! Don't… Don't a'call us that. Please."

"He just threw that Bob-omb into the opening of the Tox Box while he was above it! Now he's- Oh! Oh no, the explosion still got him!"

"He might have lost the fire power, but I still have a'faith my brother can carry on."

"I think so too, Luigi! Look!"

During the chaos he endured, Mario landed in the platform area with the cannon. Seeing it was open, he looked inside and saw what was there. After a second, he hopped in feet first.

"Mamma Mia! Is he crazy?"

"Not just crazy, Luigi. Actually insane."

"He's aiming! I think he can a'control it from the inside!"

"He's facing right towards that big bird!"

"There he goes!"

"And…"

Mario soared through the air, even holding his arms out like he was an airplane. As he got close to the Klepto, he reached out to grab it. However, the condor stopped flapping, ducking down and letting the plumber fly over him.

Having missed his target, Mario hit something else: the side of the pyramid. He tumbled downwards, shrinking to his little form as he did so, before he landed in the quicksand around the pyramid, swimming in sand and his clothes.

"WAAAAAUUUGH"

Mario didn't really have time to say anything witty before he sunk below the surface, disappearing.

Peach lowered her binoculars, wincing. Luigi had his hand over his face, sighing.

"Oh, bro…"

"...You think we should try to get it back for him?"

"Let him a'get it back himself. If we got it back for him, he'll just stew over how he didn't give that bird what it deserves. Let's get that rabbit!"

"Right! Good thinking, Luigi!"

They left the oasis, headed towards the bunny. It noticed them coming in from a mile away, and immediately started hopping off to try and lose them.

As they got closer, the princess and plumber split up. The area led to the tall dunes that obscured the small platform they entered on- besides that, there was another whirlpool of sand, and the uncomfortable surface of the pyramid.

The rabbit quickly discovered it was cornered.

Peach and Luigi, still slightly separated, slowed to a walk as both they and the rabbit realized it was cornered. It looked around, gold-tipped ears perked up, before looking at the duo with large eyes, the regulator still in its mouth.

Luigi pointed at the rabbit. "A-ha! Got you now!"

Then the rabbit was snatched by the bird.

Princess Peach and Luigi were left there, the former with her hand over her mouth, the latter still in the same position with his mouth hanging open; both of their eyes were practically bulging from their heads in shock.

Having taken the moment it was cornered, the condor snatched up the rabbit in its talons, clearly intending on making the little bunny its lunch. Mario's cap was now in its beak, allowing both claws to be used to grab its prey.

Looking up, they saw the Klepto flapping off with it.

"That's our only way out!" Peach exclaimed. She turned to Luigi. "Quick, give me something to throw. What do you have?"

"Uhhhh…" Luigi rummaged through his backpack quickly. "Uhhh, there's the rest of the durian-"

He barely finished before Peach grabbed the leftover fruit. Using both hands, she threw the fruit over her head, directly at the flying bird.

Something Peach hadn't really told either of the brothers was that she was a knockout in polo, typically done on the back of Wigglers. Though it didn't really translate that well with throwing, her aim was pretty good when focusing on something from afar.

Mario had failed to get the drop on the Klepto because, well, he never did it subtly. When Peach threw the fruit, she didn't indicate she was doing so- and thus, as the fruit closed in, the Klepto didn't notice until the very last second.

It let out a CAW as it was hit in the side with the fruit, letting go of the rabbit and the hat. It chose to grab the hat with its claws, almost glaring back at the princess for attacking it for getting food.

The rabbit fell, hitting a high-up terrace on the side of the pyramid. Clearly wanting to get away from the bird, the rabbit hopped into the entrance on this small stone balcony.

"Th-That place is probably a'crawling with creepy-crawlies!" Luigi said. "We gotta get in there before that bunny is hurt and we're stuck here with the pressure regulator!"

"Even if it's hurt, we can still get out by… getting hurt." Peach hummed. "Okay, yes, let's go after that rabbit."

"How are we gonna get up a'there?"

As they thought to themselves, wind rushed behind them, making them turn. The whirlpool that they had been turned away from, the one that cornered the rabbit, was another one that produced a small whirlwind.

Though it was on-the-spot, Peach had an idea. She closed her parasol and jammed it in between Luigi's back and his backpack.

"P-Princess?"

"We got this, Luigi. Trust me!"

"For what? WAAA-AAAAH!"

Luigi was dragged into the tornado by Peach. They were tossed around, until both of them returned to the spinning pose with their arms stretched out on either side of them.

Flying out of the top of the tornado, both of them spun down slowly towards the pyramid. However, both of them broke their spin for different reasons- Luigi was frightened and Peach was determined.

With Luigi placed in front of her, Peach grabbed onto his suspenders. With the threat of quicksand below her, Peach's legs dazzled with sparkles as she activated her float yet again. She was getting closer to doing it on command, she could tell.

Carrying Luigi, Peach floated down to the same balcony the rabbit escaped to. As soon as she landed, she sputtered, rubbing her head and shaking her dress.

"Ugh! Never again!" She said angrily. "That rabbit is lucky I didn't want to get hurt to leave here!"

Luigi had a full body shiver, before shakily returning the parasol to Peach.

"Oh! Thank you, Luigi."

Uh h-huh…" He nodded. "Can we get a'the bunny now?"

"Yes! Let's go!"

The inside of the pyramid was spacious. It was still bright enough to see, but still fairly dim; both Luigi and Peach could see the place was, in fact, crawling with creepy-crawlies. Peach grabbed the journal and flipped through it.

Some were obvious: the Goombas, for example. However, she saw a few new faces: Grindels and Spindels, Sand Kingdom natives who were apparently distant cousins of Thwomps (whatever those were) and "Amps," spherical circular creatures made from black magic that generate electricity.

The Goombas saw them and started charging. Peach whacked one over the head with her parasol- having seen his brother do it earlier, Luigi jumped up and stomped on another Goomba with both his feet.

While they were looking around, they looked above- the rabbit was up there. It squeezed through a set of metal bars for some kind of platform at the very top.

"We have to get up there!"

"H-How about some help, princess?"

Luigi pointed nearby, showing her another glowing ? Block near them. They glanced at each other and smiled.

Peach punched this one, and two fire flowers popped out, allowing the pair to turn into Fire Luigi and Fire Peach, their clothes flashing as they changed forms.

The pyramid's interior required them to climb around the sides in order to reach the top, with the center of the floor just being more sand. They would have to go around in order to get to the other side, where a set of steps to head upwards lay.

More Goombas were in the way, so Luigi and Peach's solution was to go through them.

Knowing how his fireballs work now, Luigi tossed one against the wall, letting it split into five. The smaller green fireballs bounced across the floor and hit a bunch of the Goombas up ahead, dazing them for a moment.

With a closed parasol, Peach swatted one of the Goombas out of the way like using a golf club and into the sand beside the walkway, making it disappear upside-down into the sand. Luigi kicked another dazed Goomba out of the way, letting it smash against the wall and turn into a puff of dust.

Taking off his backpack, Luigi used the extra weight to smash another Goomba in the way. Peach blasted a steady stream of fire ahead of her that turned a few more Goombas into nothing but smoke.

Another set of Goombas were turning the corner as the pair approached it. Luigi jumped up, stepping on each of the Goombas' heads one foot at a time, hopping around to turn the corner and keep going. He was smiling, feeling a bit confident in how he was doing now.

They climbed up the stairs to the next level, only getting closer to the top.

Peach rushed forwards, tucking her parasol under her arm. She pulled her journal out again to try and get a feel of what kinds of enemies they would be facing here.

Unfortunately, now was certainly not the time for her to be checking it. Her excitement and anticipation to get information on these creatures was her downfall- as she flipped through the pages, she neglected to notice something hovering around the corner.

She slammed into the floating metal ball around the corner, which immediately started crackling with electricity as it looked at Peach with a big, open-mouth smile. The electricity made Peach writhe before tossing her backwards, tumbling backwards, her dress going back to pink. Oh, fire powers, how Peach hardly knew them.

Luigi stopped beside her. "Princess! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Peach got up to her feet. "Watch out for that… Amp, I think it's called."

"Uh, princess?"

After reaching into his bag, Luigi offered the comb again. Peach reached up and felt that her hair was sticking in multiple directions because of the electricity. This place was not good for her hair. She had to get out of here ASAP.

Once Peach's hair was fixed, they proceeded- after carefully passing the Amp, they reached a set of bars they had to climb across, as below they would fall into that sand at the ground floor. Peach held her parasol between her teeth as both she and Luigi climbed across.

A while ago, Luigi would barely be able to do one pull up, not to mention climb across some bars. With the power of that Super Mushroom, he was strong enough to pass any gym class that blocked his path.

Past the bars, climbing a small set of stairs again, they reached the next level, only getting closer. The only obstacle this time was a Spindel- the cylindrical shaped thing that was rolling back and forth on the walkway ahead of them. As it rolled, it showed the metallic blue eyes it had and the giant row of teeth it had as well, all through what appeared to be wrappings on its body.

As they stood out of reach of the Spindel's set path, Peach could see up ahead that there was a space in the wall they could fit into. Not rushing in this time, she tapped Luigi and pointed it out to them.

The next time the Spindel rolled backwards, they ran down the walkway. Peach slid into the space in the wall, but Luigi tripped over his own shoelaces, falling flat on his face- though the damage wasn't enough to get rid of his fire power. The Spindel was rolling closer to him.

"Luigi!"

Peach grabbed the plumber by the backpack and yanked him into the space on the wall just as the Spindel rolled by. They squeezed out really quick afterwards and ran as fast as they could, just making it around the corner as the Spindel caught up to them, just barely touching them.

It was getting tighter up here now. In order to reach the top level, they had to pass a tight walkway that went across the open space, which was being guarded by a Grindel. The Grindel looked just like a Spindel, but was a cube. It lifted itself up and slammed down into the stone walkway, making a loud grunting noise as it did each time.

One at a time, Peach and Luigi slipped past the grunting creature, which seemed to move its eyes to watch them go under it.

They were finally at the top. There was a small catwalk jutting out towards the hanging enclosed platform. Peach went first, feeling more desperate to get in, letting her impulse take control of her. She jumped and grabbed the edge of the platform, parasol in her teeth again, before she pulled herself up.

She was just barely big enough to fit in the spaces between the bars. Turning behind her, she gestured for Luigi to follow.

The green plumber was hesitant, scared, before he ran forwards and jumped to her with closed eyes. Peach grabbed onto his hand with two of hers, helping him stay up. Luigi took off his backpack off first, tossing it in, before he squeezed his larger form through the pipes slowly.

They were back, and now the rabbit was cornered again. Peach marched up to the rabbit, who scooted back into the corner, before grabbing it by the scruff of their neck and lifting the rabbit up. Peach pulled the regulator out of its mouth.

"Give me that! You know how much trouble you've been causing us?"

"I am terribly sorry, my lady. I did not mean to cause you such stress."

Peach blinked in surprise. Luigi took the regulator, eyebrows furrowed.

"Did that a'rabbit just talk…?"

"Indeed." The rabbit continued, speaking in a deep British accent. "I would have talked sooner, but I had the pressure regulator in my mouth as it was the only way I was able to carry it. No opposable thumbs and whatnot, I'm certain you understand."

"Hmph. Well, we'll talk more about you stealing royal property once we return to the castle."

"Uh… Princess?" Luigi tapped her shoulder. "We're kinda… stuck in here."

Peach looked around, seeing that there was no exit except the way they came- but the way they came meant making a jump that they physically could not do because of having to squeeze through the bars. There was a hole above them, maybe it could've been an exit, but it's blocked off by the top of the pyramid.

After she looked around, she looked back at the rabbit. Lack of foresight strikes again.

"…aw, mushrooms."

Where was Mario when you need him?

---

Mario was thinking about how to get his hat back.

After getting flung out of the Shifting Sand Land the second time, Mario skipped the pleasantries with the king and queen and simply left the castle to try and clear his head. His hatless, hatless head.

Here he was, sitting in the crook of the tailed tree made by said tail against the trunk. He had his elbow against the trunk, tapping his cheek as he tried to think about what he could try next. The cannon was a good idea, and a fun one, but it would probably end the same way the last one did.

Why was that bird so smart? At least smarter than Mario it seemed.

"Hey Mario!" A Toad asked from below. "What're you doing?"

"Thinking."

"Oh cool! About what?"

"About getting my hat back."

"Where'd it go?"

"A bird stole it."

"Oh!" There was a moment's pause. "Why?"

"I'm a'trying to have a moment here."

The Toad stared at him.

"…alone."

"Oh, okay! Well have fun then, Mario! Tell your brother I said hi!"

The Toad walked off.

Mario continued his thinking in solitary silence. The attraction to the tailed tree had died down after a few days, so now he was completely alone as he sat in it. He kicked his feet a bit as he sat and thought. After a second, frustrated from his lack of ideas, Mario whacked the side of the trunk with his fist.

Above him, the fully grown leaves of the tree were brown. The striped brown leaves had eyes- much like everything in this kingdom. After Mario walloped the trunk, one of the ripened leaves came off of its branch. It fluttered down, spinning around and rocking in midair.

Eventually, it came down and landed on top of Mario's head, perfectly in the center, the point of the leaf facing forwards.

Feeling the leaf touch his head, Mario sighed and reached up to get it off of him. However, he didn't find anything there, as if the leaf completely vanished. He patted the top of his head to try and feel around for the leaf, but didn't feel it there. Instead, he felt something new: a set of ears.

The ears were furry, and as soon as he felt them, Mario's eyebrows furrowed. He could feel through the ears, as if they were always a part of his body.

He felt a tingling at the bottom of his spine. Mario lifted his bottom half up as he felt something suddenly swing from his tailbone, looking back to see an actual tail appeared from the top of his backside, brown and striped, curving upwards.

"Huh?!"

Suddenly, the tail curled around his body, forcing Mario to spin around like a tornado. The spinning plumber lifted into the air, his body turning brown, the tornado twisting around to face downwards. He torpedoed to the ground, but right before he could hit the brick street, he stopped.

Mario stopped spinning, facing downwards but still carried in the air by his backside. The brown striped tail was now turning like a helicopter blade, keeping him in the air. As his hands were stretched out to try and catch himself from hitting the ground, he saw that his hands were now fully covered in brown fur.

His face was free, but he was now dressed in a brown costume that looked like an animal. He had gray pads on his palm and fingers, his body was the same brown color. If the fur was grayer, he'd think he was a raccoon. But the color, and the pattern of the fur specifically, made Mario know what he was dressed as: a tanooki!

Still hovering, Tanooki Mario wanted to put this tail to the test. With the tail still spinning, Mario flew forwards, rocketing through the streets of Toad Town and weaving through the mushroom buildings.

He had his arms stretched out like before, almost like a plane to keep himself steady, flying with a big smile. He got to the temporary home he had in town, turning around there before turning his attention to the palace and flying back towards there.

The doors were still open as it was merely dusk, allowing Mario to soar inside.

"What was that?!"

"I think it was a bird!"

"It was a plane!"

"No, it was a plumber!"

Ignoring everything going on, Mario flew to the undercroft (sure to open the door before flying in) and sped through the archives and the moat section, directly into the wall that entered the Shifting Sand Land.

He flew through the white, entering the desert world and headed directly to the hat-stealing condor.

"IT'S MARIO TIME!"

Even announcing himself didn't help the bird this time. It barely managed to escape as Mario slammed down on the pillar it was currently perched on. As he did, something clicked deep inside of the pillar.

Mario swiped in the air after the bird, just barely missing him. Mario landed on the second pillar soon, making something click inside of that.

The next time, Mario overshot his flight, nearly crashing into the third pillar but catching himself and gripping onto the surface as the condor flapped away quickly. A third click.

Finally, Mario decided to wait. He watched the condor soar before he wound his tail up and shot off the pillar. The condor couldn't react in time as Mario grabbed onto its throat with both hands. With the power of his tail, he was able to corkscrew himself into the air and throw the Klepto directly into the quicksand below.

It let out one more caw before it sunk into the sand.

"How do you like it, bird?!"

Collecting himself after yelling, Mario landed on the last pillar, sticking his hand out and catching his fluttering hat. He put it back on, the hood of his tanooki suit making it turn into smoke and giving said hood a new, lighter-furred brim to mimic his hat.

A click called out somewhere under him inside the pillar.

Both Mario and the others inside the pyramid felt vibrations fill the air. Suddenly, the top part of the pyramid disconnected, spinning around like it was the top of a bottle. It lifted up into the air, still spinning, before the entire thing disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Mamma Mia!"

Mario heard his brother's voice echo out from the top of the halved pyramid. His tanooki tail fluttered again, spinning around and allowing the plumber to fly towards the newly made opening.

Peach and Luigi watched as Mario came in through the top, hovering down as his tail slowly came to a stop. Mario smiled, hands on his hips.

"Hello!"

"Mario!"

"Whoa, bro!" Luigi's eyebrows went up. "…What are you, a bear or something?"

"He's a tanooki!"

"You…" Mario looked at Peach. "You know what a tanooki is?"

"Yeah! My dad read me stories about the impish shapeshifting tanooki when I was a girl. Both them and the equally mischievous kitsune, but mostly tanooki. I'm surprised you know about it!"

"They're a myth in the Metro Kingdom too. But uh… I mostly know about it because a'the college I briefly went to had a tanooki as their school mascot. I was actually the mascot guy a'when I was there, so being in this suit really brings me back."

Around them, the platform rumbled, before it suddenly started lowering down, apparently returning them to the bottom floor.

"How did this even happen, though?"

"Those a'leaves from the tailed tree in town turned me into this!" Mario said to Luigi. He noticed his brother holding the rabbit in his arms. "Though I see you guys have been a'busy."

"Yeah! We got the bunny and the regulator back!"

"Terribly sorry again for taking that." The rabbit said, looking at Mario. "It was the only way I knew to get someone in this world to retrieve the princess before she harmed herself."

"You couldn't have talked like you are a'right now?"

"If I had done that, you all would've either caged or slay me."

"Wait, you did this just so someone would come get me?" Peach asked. "Who even are you anyway? Why's a rabbit in the basement of my castle?"

"My name is Mips." The rabbit bowed his head a bit. "And I live in your undercroft because… well… There aren't any predators down there. I can't live in the castle because you all would believe me vermin."

"Isn't it dirty and dusty down there though? How do you get food?"

"I mostly consume the root vegetables you keep in the undercroft, but every now and then I venture out and eat something from your kitchen. I know that is stealing, but I try not to eat anything that isn't already in excess."

"That explains some food going missing." Peach hummed. "Doesn't it get lonely down there?"

"Well yes, but… What is the alternative, princess? Being hunted by predators, or being hunted by those who want a special talking pet? I don't believe there's anyone out there who would stick up for little old me."

"The princess did!" Luigi objected. "She saved you from that bird! Hit it right on with a durian!"

"You did?!" Mario grinned at Peach. "That's incredible!"

"I appreciate what the princess has done, but I know she was simply attempting to find a way out."

Peach frowned, thinking to herself. The elevator reached the ground floor but… started going even further down. The floor split open below them.

"Uh…" Mario looked around them. "What's a'going on?"

"Well, that's part of what I was saying," Mips continued. "The only way out for you all would be through… the Eyerok."

"Th-The what now?"

The elevator stopped, rumbling below them. The bars at the sides fell off, revealing an extension to the platform that included some kind of stone bench- at least it looked like that. There was some form of altar behind it, made of gray stone.

Light crept down from the newly formed openings the three made. As it hit the stone bench, it started to vibrate, before it completely split down the middle, sliding apart.

"WHO… WALK… HERE? WHO… BREAK… SEAL? WAKE… ANCIENT… ONES?"

A deep voice came from all around them. The two parts of the stone fixture lifted up, crossing over one another and unraveling. As it did, they saw what these things were- a set of floating stone hands with bumps in the center of their palms.

"WE NO LIKE LIGHT… WE NO LIKE INTRUDERS!"

The bumps in the center of the palms opened up, revealing piercing blue eyes in each hand. The Eyerok, as Mips called it, was made up of two massive sentient hands.

Peach slowly took Mips from Luigi, as he was still using his fire powers, and she currently didn't have a power-up. She stepped backwards, letting the brothers take the offense positions.

"NOW BATTLE HAND… TO… HAND!"

One of the hands- the left- clenched into a fist, lifting up and casting a shadow over Mario. Before it can come down and crush the plumber, Mario's tanooki tail started up again, pulling him out of the way as the fist slammed onto the platform.

The right hand and its eye were open, as Luigi could see. He tossed a fireball on the ground, letting it scatter into fives, with at least two of them hitting the opened eye right on, making the creature wince.

In reaction, the left hand slammed down in a chop, before sliding across the platform to try and sweep Luigi off. Without a tanooki tail, Luigi was left scrambling, but was unable to dodge the sweeping hand in time.

The plumber toppled back over the edge, but was caught with a parasol poking his stomach. Peach held out the umbrella in time for Luigi to grab it, the sole of his foot on the edge of the platform. She pulled Luigi back, swinging around so the green plumber was propelled back. Luigi spun around, caught by his brother.

In their daze, the right hand turned on its side and sliding towards the brother to try and slide them off again. Mario grabbed onto his hat and pulled down on instinct, but as he did, he was suddenly covered in smoke. It disappeared in an instant, leaving the tanooki-suited Mario there but as a statue. The smooth stone statue had one hand up and a red bandanna around its neck.

The hand got stuck on the immobile statue, keeping still long enough for Luigi to see that the eye was still wide open on it. The green plumber created another fireball, throwing the whole thing into that eye as it was the Eyerok's weakspot.

Recoiling back, the right hand wiggled its fingers. The left hand was there again, hovering above the brothers as a fist again. In another puff of smoke, Mario was back to normal, and tackled Luigi out of the way before the fist could slam down.

The hand opened again, facing them. Mario let his tail pull him, spinning around and whacking the open eye with it. As it slid back, Luigi threw two fireballs at the eye, hitting it dead on again.

Together, Mario and Luigi rushed in and punched the eye together. After a loud shriek, the left hand shattered into smoke and glitter, shining in the air. The brothers stood there, trying to wave them all away. A shadow was casted over them as the right hand hovered over in a fist. They didn't notice until it was too late, just barely escaping the crushing fist.

Mario and Luigi jumped out of the way, rolling quickly. The hand opened back up and focused on someone else nearby: Peach, who was still standing there without any powers. It faced its palm towards the princess and dragged along the ground to her.

As the right hand pushed forwards, eye opened, Peach held Mips with one hand away from the Eyerok. She used her closed parasol like a sword, jabbing forwards and directly into the eye.

After a moment's pause, the hand disappeared in a puff of smoke and sparkles. Peach returned Mips to his spot against her chest, holding him close and looking around. Mario and Luigi both got up as well.

"Jolly good show, Mario and Luigi." Mips commented.

Luigi tipped his hat. Mario lifted the brim of his hat to acknowledge the rabbit- as he did, his tanooki suit suddenly turned to smoke, disappearing but leaving a leaf on his head under that hat. After a pause, Mario took out the Super Leaf from under his had and looked it over, before putting it in his overalls pocket.

"WHAT... HAPPEN? WE... CRUSHED LIKE PEBBLE. YOU THREE SO STRONG TOGETHER! YOU RULE ANCIENT PYRAMID! FOR TODAY... NOW, TAKE STAR OF POWER. WE… SLEEP… DARKNESS."

The stone altar suddenly shattered, and something flew out of it. In the center of the platform, between all three of them, light poured out from a source that was slowly lowering down to the ground.

It was… a star. It had eyes, but it was golden and sparkling, and slowly spun around as if constantly looking at each of them. All three of them could feel the warmth radiate, and a tingle of something like magic coming off of it.

"What… What is that?" Mario thought aloud.

"It's a Power Star."

"A what?" Peach held Mips up to ask him eye-to-eye.

"A Power Star. One of the most powerful things in the galaxy."

"That's the thing the original Super Happy Tree a'came from!" Luigi added.

"Yes. It's also your ticket home. Simply touch it and you three will go back to the castle, walking out the way you came."

"What about you, Mips?"

"I might stay in here. Or maybe I'll go with you. I'm unsure. Why?"

"You should come with me and stay in the castle." Peach said. "Look, it'll kill me knowing there's a rabbit hiding away in my undercroft. Especially one doing so just so he can feel safe. You're already stealing some of my food- why don't you come back and start getting fed my food for real instead?"

"You would… do that? For me?"

"Why not?" Peach shrugged. "I had a good time chasing you down. Maybe I'm just making sure I don't have to again."

"…I'd like that, princess. I would really like that. Thank you for your grace."

Peach smiled. She returned Mips to the spot he was in before, suddenly joined at either side by the brothers. They all looked at the Power Star- this mysterious but apparently incredibly powerful item- and took in its power.

They all reached out and touched the Power Star.

---

"It's so good to finally have a good model to do still lifes with again!"

King Mushroom was painting again, this time painting a brand new model. On a small table a few feet ahead of him and his easel, Mips was on his hind feet, ears perked up and looking to the side as if scanning for something. On the table along with him were root vegetables, with at least one nibbled on by said rabbit as payment for this painting.

It had been a day since Peach had her adventure in the Shifting Sand Land. With help from Mario and Luigi, they managed to convince the king and queen that Peach's "adventure" was her in the undercroft trying to catch said rabbit, and simply got stuck below because of the faulty undercroft door.

They seemed to believe it. As far as Peach knew, at least.

Right about now, Mario and Luigi were resting back at home. The tailed tree that Mario mentioned was still out there, but there was a sign advising Toads not to mess with the leaves, just in case. Though Mario still had one of those Super Leaves in his possession back at their house. He really liked that tanooki suit.

Speaking of really liked, the king and queen got accustomed to Mips very quickly. Maybe it was because the rabbit was as dapper and well spoken as the monarchs, or maybe it was because they liked having a pet that wasn't the possibly dangerous Chain Chomp that Peach named and was trying to train.

Standing behind her father, Peach watched Mushroom put the finishing touches on the painting of Mips.

The door opened- it was Chanterelle, who glided into the room and saw the painting, smiling.

"How lovely." She said. "Do you need Mips to stay still?"

"Nope! I'll have this one done soon. Why?"

"Well…" The queen walked to Mips and lifted him up. "I was thinking of bringing our new housemate to the gardens. I know he has a penchant for getting into tight spaces, since he apparently had been harvesting on our kitchen food. I want to show Mips what vegetables he can and cannot eat through the year."

"I would be thrilled to have you do so, ma'am." Mips said.

"No problem! Just keep him away from my turnips. I still need those for stews."

"Very well. Say goodbye, Mips!"

Mips let the queen make the rabbit wave with a paw. He spoke anyway. "Good evening!"

The queen left the room with the golden-eared rabbit. Peach walked out in front of the easel, collecting the vegetables so they could give them to Mips much later.

As she collected the items, she thought to herself. She listened to her father slowly paint on canvas, and it only reminded her of the reason Mips was there in the first place- because of that painting. That one painting, and the king still hiding things from her.

It was a strange course of events, but Peach was brought back, especially as they were in that same solar room right now. She slowly picked up those vegetables, putting them in a burlap bag.

On an impulse, she ran into the Shifting Sand Land. She did so to try and "get back" at her parents for hiding so much from her… it was something she knew about, and something they didn't know she knew about. Something special, something that meant she was two steps ahead of them.

And what did she have to show for it?

She dropped the bag on the floor. Hearing the drop, the king paused. He leaned in his stool, looking at his daughter who was facing away from him.

"…fuzz? You alright?"

Peach was quiet. She soon turned, taking a deep breath.

"Dad…" She spoke softly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, princess." The king got up from his stool to stand in front of her. "Anything."

"…what's a Power Star?"

It was almost like Peach pulled out a weapon and threatened Mushroom's life. His face went pale, his face turning into one of almost pure terror, and Peach could swear she saw her father's black beard stand on end. He leaned back slightly, almost in a recoil.

"You…" He whispered. "Who told you about that?"

"Nobody. I found it out on my own, in the undercroft."

It was a lie. But she wasn't going to rat out the rabbit.

"…you shouldn't know about that." The king said in hushed tones. "You shouldn't even say that. It's kept away from people for a reason. You need to just… forget about it, Peach."

"No!"

The raise in the princess' voice surprised the king, who stepped back with raised eyebrows.

"I don't want to forget it! Why is your solution always forgetting things?" She continued. "I've done everything you asked, I've put myself out there and I've proven I'm more than capable of dealing with tough situations! I even saved you and mom from a plant monster!" Peach's face softened, looking more hurt than upset. "Aren't I supposed to be queen? Am I just going to be in the dark forever?"

King Mushroom looked at his daughter, taking in the woman she had become. He felt himself conflicted- he had made promises in the past, especially when it came to something as vital as… this. But he also had made a promise to himself to not be like his predecessors. He would raise Peach to be someone better instead of just being a carbon copy of himself.

Deep down he truly, truly loved his daughter. Maybe in a way keeping her from thinking about this stuff was his way of protecting her from what the world entailed.

But he couldn't keep her in the dark forever. He wouldn't let that happen, especially if she was supposed to be better than him and his wife. Mushroom sighed.

"A Power Star…" He said. "Is a magical artifact that's existed for thousands of years. Even longer than the Mushroom Kingdom, even longer than any kingdom on this planet. They fell from the sky and onto our world eons ago, and our planet is filled with hundreds upon thousands of them. Its magic is what created half of the races on this planet, through magic. Including the Toadstool Peoples."

"A magical artifact…"

"When the kingdoms of the world were being formed, the Power Stars were split amongst them. All across the planet, dozens of Power Stars exist. In the Mushroom Kingdom, and maybe in some of the other kingdoms, they're hidden away."

"Hidden?" Peach was a bit amused. "What do they think the Toads will do with something like that if they hid those stars from us?"

"Not hidden from us, Peach, they were hidden by us." Mushroom was serious. "For reasons… I can't go into. Not because I don't want to share but because… Because they hurt, Peach. I want to tell you, but… But I can't. I can't go through that again."

Mushroom wiped his eye, clearing his throat.

"Peach, please." He looked at his daughter. "I don't know how you found out about it, but if you found one, you need to tell me. Or tell your mother, or Toadsworth. You need to let us know. This isn't a game, Peach. That thing is dangerous, and… I don't want you involved with that. You're my little girl. Please… If you found one, you need to let me know."

Peach looked at the king, seeing how desperate and sad the king had become. She clenched the sides of her dress for support, her eyebrows furrowed.

She needed a moment to compose herself before speaking.

"I didn't find one." She said. "I read about it in an old book in the archives. That's how I know."

Mushroom took a few deep breaths. He walked to her and hugged her- or rather hugged her legs- just wanting to hold his daughter after the memories that came back to him.

Peach patted his head.

"I love you, fuzz. I didn't mean to scare you… I'll think it over, maybe talk to your mother… The second I can, we'll all sit down and talk about the Power Stars. I promise."

"I believe you, dad. I love you too."

The king pulled back, wiping his face again. He smiled, a bit forced, in order to reassure the princess. He went to his easel, lifting up the painting on it and carrying it high.

"I'm gonna find somewhere to hang this up." Mushroom said. "I'm sure you have journaling to do… I hear you're doing that a lot nowadays."

"I am. I do think I'm gonna be in my boudoir for a while."

"Alright, fuzz. No problem. I'll see you at dinner?"

"Yes, of course. I'll see you then, dad."

Mushroom left. After another moment, Peach glided out of the room, returning to her boudoir nearby.

On the table in the room, a blank page towards the back of the archivist's journal was opened, and a question block was drawn on there in pink. She was making up a new entry on that mysterious block she saw, but that's not why she returned to the room.

Pushing past the foliage of her other plants, Peach reached the Furafurawa flower. She peeled open the petals and got her trinket box, holding it close to her body.

She looked over her shoulder once, just to be safe, before opening the box. The tune played again as light poured out of the box and onto Peach's face. As she opened it completely, a flash of magic happened, and a Power Star floated a foot or two above the open box.

Mario and Luigi didn't want the Power Star, so they let Peach have it. Here it was.

This thing was a magical artifact. That was really sinking in- this thing might be older than the Mushroom Kingdom, and was hidden by the Mushroom Kingdom for reasons unknown. Reasons good enough to almost make the king cry.

How many more were out there? A hundred? A hundred and ten? A hundred and thirty?

Peach could only think about how desperate Mushroom was to keep her from knowing what this was. He said she was his little girl… and he was right. She was his daughter, and she hated seeing her father so distraught.

This wasn't a matter of trust anymore. For the sake of her parents and their feelings… Peach had to find out more on her own. So they wouldn't have to live through that again. The princess would look for everything she could find about the Star and the history of the kingdom to spare her parents from experiencing… whatever happened ever again.

For the sake of her parents, she was taking this decision out of their hands.

Peach reached up and closed the trinket box, the Power Star automatically slipping back into the box, and snuffing out the magical warmth it was providing. The princess put it back in the flower and returned the petals to their normal position.

It remained in the flower as the princess left the room to go start her investigation. However, a few minutes after she left, light shined through and only got brighter, nearly illuminating the room.

Then suddenly, the light went out, and the petals sagged as if it was empty on the inside.