I gave a long yawn, stretching out in the living room armchair as I watched Gareth frantically button-mash as he played Final Fight. Lily was currently engrossed in her book and Alice was flipping through our game collection for something to do. It was a nice simple day with nothing to do and nothing happening…which meant it was really, REALLY, boring. Kind of hoping something happens soon.

"Mail Call!" Mary's voice cut over the relaxing atmosphere of our living room. I looked over to see her walking over to us from the entryway, waving an envelope as she did. We all looked at each other for a moment in confusion.

"Mail?" Alice said in surprise. "We live in the void between realities. How did we get mail?"

"Yeah, if we can get mail then where's my magazines?" I asked.

"I don't pick up junk mail." Mary replied and I sighed. I should probably cancel those subscriptions then.

"So, who's it from?" Lily asked setting her book down on the coffee table. She held the envelope out to me. I took it from her and looked it over. It was light pink with distinct sweet scent on it. A crown was pressed into the wax seal; a crown I immediately recognized as Princess Toadstool's crown.

"It's from Peach." I answered.

"Who?" Gareth asked pausing his game to join the conversation.

"Princess Toadstool." I elaborated.

"Not any clearer Soren." Does he seriously not remember!?

"The princess from the Mushroom kingdom." I said with increased annoyance at his apparent forgetfulness. It took him a moment before it clicked in his brain.

"Oh! The girl who wore a lot of pink!" Finally.

"How did you forget her?" Alice asked and Gareth shrugged.

"She didn't really leave much of an impact on me. She seemed more focused on Soren the last time we saw her." Alice gave a low grumble at this comment. I broke the wax seal and opened the envelope. Inside was a letter with royal margins, written in calligraphy, and a weathered map folded in half. I opened up the map and stared at it with a confused expression. There was no legends or markings of any kind; it was a map of a land with nothing on it.

"It must be a really old map." Lily commented, looking over my shoulder. I turned my attention to the letter and cleared my throat before reading aloud.

Dear Soren,

I am now on holiday, traveling in the mushroom kingdom. In my travels, I came into possession of a mystical map…a treasure map, actually. It was inside a box I got from an old merchant in a town called Rogueport. But since it would be too difficult for me to try and go find treasure all by myself…I thought maybe you and your friends could help me hunt for it! You will of course, won't you?

I've included the map with this letter, so please bring it with you when you come. I'll meet you at Rogueport. (That means you HAVE to come.)

Yours truly,

Peach ?

"She actually put a heart at the end of her name?" Alice said with a hint of disgust. I chuckled at the heart and set the letter down as I thought. The weird thing is that she sent us a letter when she has the scroll we gave her for communication purposes. This meant that either she didn't have it on her, or it wasn't working for her. Either way it's probably better to check on her at least…but not alone.

"Okay, odds are people are going to be after her." I said.

"Duh." Alice commented.

"As such, we should make sure we have backup in case this treasure hunt goes belly up."

"So…lethal force?" Gareth asked and I shook my head.

"Mario at least."

"But what about the princess?" Lily asked. We couldn't leave her alone for too long, she might end up kidnapped.

"How about this then. I'll head to Rougeport to meet up with her. While there, I'll also get information on the area and find out more about this map. Meanwhile you three head to Peach's Castle and find Mario. Once you've found him, we'll all meet up in Rougeport."

"Why not have someone go with you?" Alice asked.

"Because I'm not going to be traveling. Once you find Mario you have to make your way to me." Alice thought for a moment before nodding in understanding. Odds are they would encounter trouble getting to Rogueport; better to have all three of them together.

"I'll grab my axe." Gareth said standing up.

"Hold up!" I quickly said stopping him on his way up the stairs. "We might want to consider a non-lethal approach." Gareth stepped backwards down the stairs and to the nearby hallway closet. Opening it up, he grabbed his wooden bat and held it up, "Better." He reached back in and grabbed the other wooden weapons before handing them out to us, giving Lily her staff, Alice her bokken, and me my two bamboo longswords.

Once we were all geared up, I made sure we all knew what we had to do before seeing Alice, Gareth and Lily off as they made their way through one of Mary's more reliable reality tears.

"We'll see you in Rougeport." Alice said and I nodded in reply before she disappeared. With them gone, I turned back to Mary.

"Alright, mind connecting me to Rogueport?" I asked and she nodded.

"Just be careful. Rougeport is a bit more dangerous than you might expect." I chuckled a little bit at this comment.

"Come on, it's the Mushroom Kingdom. It can't be that bad." Mary gave me a small shrug.

"Just…don't say I didn't warn you." She snapped her fingers and opened up another tear, this time for me. I gave her a quick wave and stepped through.

I found myself standing on the end of a dock, the ocean crashing against the pier and splashing my boots and blue jeans lightly with ocean water. Taking a quick glance around, I found a few Toads and Bob-ombs wandering around the area, a lot of them a bit disheveled or dirty looking. Stepping off the pier, I approached a nearby Toad.

"Excuse me, this is Rogueport right?" I asked.

"It sure is! The seediest town you'll find anywhere! Whatcha here for?"

"I'm looking for a girl dressed all in pink. Blonde hair and blue eyes…most likely wearing a crown." I explained.

"Can't say I've seen anyone like that today. Why you looking for her, she owe you money? Or is she your girlfriend?" Geez this Toad is nosy.

"None of those. Thanks anyway." I quickly move on from the invasive Toad and towards the entrance just above the harbor. As I climbed the stairs, I could feel some of the people on the docks watching me as I moved, distrustful of me and unsure of what I would do, "Mary might have had a point about this town." I muttered to myself. The atmosphere was breaching on hostile with how people greeted a newcomer to their town. I almost felt like a criminal. As I passed through the doorway, I could see a large town square…with gallows in the center of it all, "…Okay then."

I asked around for any information I could get on the princess, but everyone was either unwilling to cooperate, or trying to get me to pay them for the information. I sat down on the gallows and gave a heavy sigh.

"Something wrong?" I looked up to see a mouse woman looking down at me. When I stood up, she still stood a few inches taller than me, looking down with her brown eyes, her white hair cascading down her back and brown fur covering her whole body. She wore a simple red t-shirt and brown shorts under an apron that covered her chest, torso and legs, stopping just before her white sneakers. I gave a weary sigh.

"I'm looking for someone but so far nobody has been very helpful."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Her voice definitely gave off the impression of a woman with her…modest chest…also adding to that impression. "Do they live here? I might be able to help." Can't hurt to ask.

"No, they're passing through but we agreed to meet up here." She thought for a moment, her hand on her chin, before answering.

"If they're visiting, they'll most likely be at the nearby Inn." She motioned to a two-story building past the gallows but just before the shady alleyway. "That's where I'd be." Finally, a straight answer.

"Thanks. That's the most helpful anyone has been since I got here." She giggled.

"Of course sweetie. I'm happy to help. You can call me…Mincy." Definitely a unique name.

"I'm Soren." I held out my hand to shake hers and she extended her delicate palm to shake mine.

"A pleasure. If you feel like repaying me, I'd appreciate it if you stopped by my badge shop." She pointed to the spot just above the item shop, "If you head upstairs from the inn, you can cross that bridge and get to my shop." I chuckled at her self-advertising. I suppose that's not entirely unreasonable. Chances are they'll help out in some way knowing my luck.

"I'll definitely stop by later." She smiled.

"That's what I like to hear. See you later Soren." She walked past my field of view.

"Yeah, see you-" I stopped as I turned to find she was already gone, nowhere to be found. "…Weird."

I stepped into the inn and was greeted with a bar full of various people chatting and enjoying their drinks. I could see stairs nearby that most likely led to the Inn. I stepped onto the first step and heard a low creek; this place must be a bit rundown. Ignoring the possibility of falling through the stairs, I made my way up. As I came to the top, I took a glance at the rundown looking beds and leaky ceiling, dripping water into a bucket on the floor. How was this place still standing? I could see more than a few 'patched' holes. In the corner was even a few moths fluttering around a candle, and two guys carrying princess Peach…wait-

"Ah!" I moved my attention back to the kidnapping in progress. Two short guys in full body outfits of white and red were carrying a tied-up Princess Peach who struggled and tried to speak through her muffled gag. Moving in, I quickly smacked one of the goons with my wooden sword sending him flying before doing the same to the other. Both quickly got up and scrambled down the stairs as I untied the Princess, "Are you okay princess!?" As I removed her gag, she gave a sigh of relief before pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you so much Soren! They almost carted me away like a piece of luggage!" When she pulled away, she gave a slight huff, "Honestly, treating a lady like that. They didn't have any class."

"I think most kidnappers don't have class." I replied.

"Still…not nice." At least she wasn't kidnapped.

"Princess!" I turned my head to see an old toad coming up the stairs in a hurry. He had a panicked look on his face as he moved towards the princess, "Are you okay!? I saw some ruffians leaving the Inn and was worried sick!"

"I'm fine Toadsworth." Peach said dusting herself off and turning to smile at me. "Thankfully Soren was here to save me." I nodded in reply.

"Happy to help."

"Well thank you dear boy." Toadsworth replied.

"Why were they trying to kidnap the princess?" I asked before realizing the answer was in my jacket pocket. Pulling out the map, I opened it up and set it on the nearby table.

"The map!" Peach said in realization. "They must have been trying to rob me!" Over this map?

"But why? It doesn't even have any information on it."

"It must have some connection to the town though." Peach added. "Rogueport is in the center." She had a point. Which would mean there should be some information on this connection.

"Ahem." Toadsworth cleared his throat, prompting Peach and I to turn to him. "I heard about a researcher taking up residence in this town. Maybe he has some information on this map." That's not a bad idea.

"Sounds like a plan…but first-" As I put the map away, I looked at Peach in her pink dress and sighed, "-let's get the princess properly equipped for a journey."

It took a little bit but we eventually found an outfitter in Rogueport. We had to set up a comfortable outfit that wouldn't hinder here if we got into combat, but be fashionable enough to match Peach…god I sound like Coco Adel. Whatever, I've leaned into it this far, might as well finish. By the time we were done we had an outfit that worked fairly well for Peach. She wore a bright pink short-sleeve jacket over a purple t-shirt and black medium skirt with a pair of knee-high boots. I made sure she wore a pair of sports short under her skirt just to be safe, and she decided on putting her long hair into a loose ponytail, giving it a slightly adventurous disheveled look which I quickly gave a small smooth out to keep it from going too wild.

"I look great!" She said checking herself over with a big grin on her face before turning to me. "You have a keen eye." I shrugged at that compliment.

"Not really. I only know the basics…and jackets of course." I motioned to my favorite black jacket.

"Well, I like how I look." She said with a smile.

"And that's what matters." I replied making her cheeks go pink as her smile widened. "Now, what weapon do you have on you?" She thought for a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out a pink parasol. I've seen worse weapons, "How well can you use it?" She swung it around on its handle, flipping it around in a stylish way before thrusting it directly into my face and lightly touching my nose with the tip.

"Pretty well I think." Better than I expected.

"Alright! Anything else we need?"

"Hmmm…maybe some badges?"

"Badges?" She pointed up to the shop Mincy had told me about.

"I've heard that badges are essential for adventurers, or fighters."

"Any idea what they do?" Peach thought for a moment before shrugging, "Guess we'll have to find out ourselves."

The inside of the shop wasn't very impressive, but the lineup of badges on the counter were very intriguing. I could see all kinds of badges sitting behind glass cabinets. As Peach and I looked over the badges, a head popped up from behind the counter making both of us step back in surprise. I recognized the mouse girl immediately.

"How can I help you today?" Mincy asked.

"We're here for some badges." Peach asked.

"And I was curious as to what they are." I added.

"I'd be happy to explain it." She replied before grabbing a badge out of the display. "Badges themselves aren't anything special. But they have this magical quality that improves various skills and abilities. Take this badge for example-" The badge she held up had a boomerang on it, "It makes it so I can throw something and have it come back to me." She picked up a nearby broom and threw it into a spin. It stopped after a bit before rocketing back to Mincy who quickly gripped it in her hand.

"Nifty." I commented. Definitely useful with the right weapon but…not sure it's a good idea to boomerang a sword around…but maybe a staff, "I'll take it. I know a friend who could benefit from it." Mincy clapped happily. I took another look over and noticed a badge with a sword at the edge with a line running from it to the other end. "A badge that lets me run through all enemies?" Mincy nodded. "Alright, I'll take that one too."

"Excellent! What about you, young lady?" She turned her focus to Peach who looked over the badges with keen interest. The look in her eye gave me the distinct impression that her mind was running a mile a minute.

"Hmmmmmm…I'll take the float parasol badge and the bounce parasol badge…oh, and the charged-up sword badge for Soren." Mincy's tail wagged fiercely, prompting me to look at the price tag for all three. As I saw the triple digit price of one of those badges, I felt my heart suddenly pang, making me grip it tightly as I stared boggle eyed at the price tag.

"That price hurts to look at." I choked out as I tried to recover from the shock.

"Trust me, it's worth it." Mincy said trying to alleviate my hesitation to spend that much…unfortunately it did not work. Before I could bring up any objections, Peach reached into his small side satchel and pulled out a small bag of silver coins I didn't recognize. But from the bewildered look in Mincy's eyes I could only assume they were worth a lot. Peach pulled out one coin and placed it softly on the counter. Upon closer inspection I realized they weren't silver pieces but coins made of platinum.

"Will this be enough to cover it?" Peach asked simply and Mincy nodded vigorously before reaching under the counter and pulling out two badges with a wooden shield on them.

"As a token of my appreciation, I'd like to throw these in pro-bono." Based on the vigorous movement of her tail I could only assume these 'free' badges didn't even cover what Peach just paid, "Oh, but be aware that badges require a certain level of mental fortitude and stamina to properly use. The shield badges should be active as long as you wear them, but the other badges will need you to focus on them to active, and they'll leave you a little exhausted if you're not used to them." So, we have to get used to a new move set…better take it slow to start with.

I made sure to pin the badges I'd purchased to the inside of my jacket as we made our way back to the center square of Rogueport. Our next step was to find the researcher Toadsworth mentioned.

"Alright, do we have any idea what the researcher looks like?" I asked and Peach shook her head. "That doesn't bode well for us."

"Why don't we start asking around then?" She suggested. Before I could reply she tapped an a nearby persons shoulder. It was a pale pink skinned goomba girl, she stood about a foot shorter than me or Peach and sported a hard hat with a dirty blonde ponytail sticking out. She gave us a confused expression and I took note at the one sharp tooth sticking out of the left side of her bottom lip. Her outfit reminded me of an archeologists' uniform and she carried around a thick looking textbook, "Excuse me, we're looking for a researcher who's studying Rogueport. Do you know anyone like that?" She gave a look of deep thought for a moment before responding.

"Do you mean Professor Frankly?" She asked.

"Possibly." I replied with a shrug. "All we've heard is that there is a researcher who can help us with this map." I pulled the map out of my jacket pocket and showed it to the goomba girl who gave a small gasp of surprise.

"Is this a treasure map!?"

"Yes! It's exciting isn't it?" Peach said meeting the girl's enthusiasm.

"But first-" I quickly interjected; "-we need to find out more about this map."

"Oh, well Professor Frankly should be just who you need. He's the lead researcher on Rogueport." Perfect.

"Think you can show us where he is?" The goomba girl nodded.

"Sure, I'd be happy to. I'm Goombella by the way."

"I'm Soren." I replied giving a wave.

"Peach." Peach added with her signature sweet smile. Goombella gave another gasp.

"As in PRINCESS Peach!? Oh my god!"

"I feel like you should have a pseudonym with how well known your name is." I suggested.

"But I like my name." Peach said in defense.

"Yes, and so do kidnappers." Peach frowned at this realization.

"So…you must the Soren who stopped that coup in the Mushroom Kingdom!" Wait, I'm mentioned!? I turned to see Peach giving me a mocking smile.

"Maybe YOU need a pseudonym."

"Fine. We're both screwed."

Goombella led us into the more rundown end of Rogueport. The houses were falling apart and the streets seemed like they hadn't been maintained…since prohibition. Even shadier customers wandered the streets, with a sketchy looking guard keeping us from half of the street. Luckily Frankly wasn't past him, so we just avoided that end and entered a nearby house. Every wall had a bookcase filled with old and dusty looking books lining the entire interior of the house and leaving only enough room for a desk near the center where an old man with wrinkled green skin and large glasses flipped through a weathered book. As we stepped in, he looked up and adjusted his glasses to focus on us.

"Who's there?" Goombella was the first to step forward.

"Professor it's me, Goombella!" The old goomba scratched at what remained of the white hairs on his scalp, obviously struggling to remember the girl in front of her.

"Hmmm…Hmmm…HMMMMMMMMMMMMM AH! Yes, Goombriel!"

"No sir, GOOMBELLA."

"Hmmm…AH! Yes, the young lass from U Goom."

"Yes! That's me."

"Well it's good to see you dear. Why have you stopped by…and who are those people behind you?"

"Sir, this is Soren and Princess Peach."

"Who?" This is a bad start to our main informant's introduction.

"We're here to have you look at a treasure map." I said before pulling out the map and handing it to the old goomba who looked it over and turned back to his book.

"Hmmm…is this what I think it is?" He flipped through various pages before looking back at the map, "Aha! It is! This is the fabled map for the legendary treasure of Rogueport!"

"Fabled map?" I said in surprise. I never knew maps could be so old as to make it into fables.

"Legendary treasure!?" Peach said in amazement.

"Yes, it must be! Many consider it to be a legend, yet there are many places in the sewers that seem to be from the past of Rogueport." Frankly started flipping through the book on his desk, stopping on the picture of a large stone door.

"Ooohh." Peach looked at the picture and shivered in anticipation, "This is just what I wanted!" She turned to me so quickly I almost jumped, "Soren, we HAVE to find this treasure!" I laughed a bit at her enthusiasm before replying.

"Isn't that why you called me?" She giggled in return.

"Hmmm…" Frankly's musing brought our attention back to him as he closed the musty book. "This map must have some connection to that door. It merits further investigation." Frankly handed the map back to me and headed for the front door.

"H-Hang on!" I said stuffing the map back into my pocket and rushing after the old goomba with Peach and Goombella in tow. Guess we're going to check out the door.