5:25 PM, WARIO'S MANSION
When Mario finished cleaning the machine room and defeated the Cuckoo Condor, he ran to the back hall to meet with his brother. Luigi was collecting ghosts inside the storage when he encountered a shadowy organic monstrosity lurking by the wine barrels. The green-capped brother told Mario that the creature also broke into the study he was sucking ghosts in and that he hid in a wardrobe cabinet to evade the prowling entity.
Mario grabbed Luigi's shoulders and calmed him down, "It's only a figmentation of your imagination, bro. Everything's going to be fine."
"Fine?" Luigi doubted Mario, "I saw the figure roaming mindlessly around the refinery and archive tunnels below!"
"When I was down there, I only had to wash the toughest wine stains and cobwebs."
"Then you must have lucked out of being spotted down there. What about in the study?"
"I killed some bugs on the desks when I shrunk myself down. That pig with a painting palette had to piss me off by materializing more pests, so I sucked him into my F.L.U.D.D. and smoked him over a lit candle. He sure was tasty!" Mario burped, "Now, come on! We have a whole dungeon to clean!"
"What would Wario do with a dungeon below his mansion?" Luigi asked as the Mario Bros entered an elevator recently powered on from the machine room. Mario flipped the switch to lower the elevator to the dungeon, but it stopped briefly. The two men scrambled to find a way out—it was too late as the elevator malfunctioned, plunging the brothers right down to the dungeon. A hard crash knocked them cold; they quickly regained consciousness and began exploring the damp blood-caked catacombs. Even with Mario by his side, Luigi feared the worst encounters would be met.
5:40 PM, PEACH'S CASTLE
The four Toads hurried to the castle entrance to seek the Princess. Colby asked the receptionist, "Is Princess Peach available at the moment? We have a crisis going on!"
"The Princess is absent now. You can check back whenever she returns from her vacation."
"Well,... can we at least meet an advisor?"
The receptionist briefly typed on her computer and returned to Colby, "Sorry, I am afraid I can't let you men in unless you have an appointment with us."
"An appointment?!" Colby grew frustrated, "We the people have been paying for infrastructure, services, food safety, and public education with our tax dollars! How dare you tell us we should reserve an appointment!"
"Look—I can't handle your act of disorderly conduct. I am going to call security to escort you out."
"Fine!—You would be better off with a parasitic face hugger grabbing your crotch!"
Every Toad around Colby gasped in astonishment. The receptionist widened their eyes and spoke to an office phone, "Can I get the advisors to come down here and take the four Toads in front of my desk? They might have the intel the advisors need."
Escorted by military officers, the Toads entered the conference room and sat with the prime minister donned in a blue vest, red cap, white pants, and brown shoes. Other members of the council were Toadbert, Toadiko, Toadette, and Nabbit. The prime minister switched on the projector to display a line graph.
"Ever since Princess Peach left for her vacation, we saw an uptick of parasites forcing their way into everyone's groins. The epidemic transitioned into a pandemic as the devilish organisms invaded other nations. It can't be a damn coincidence this started as soon as each sovereign left their respective places."
"Okay, so you all think we four have the information you need?" Colby asked.
"Yes. Do you know anyone who had the parasite on their crotch?" the prime minister inquired.
Vernon replied, "It was Rosalina… and Pauline."
Rick added, "Don't forget the heroic and metrosexual Link."
Vernon retorted, "Link's not metrosexual!"
"Oh, yeah? Then why did he wear a belly dancer outfit at the bazaar the last time we went there?"
"Gentlemen—please! We have a serious issue to deal with here," Daffy interrupted.
Colby cleared his throat and asked, "Anything else you want from us, Prime Minister Toad?"
"Yes. You four will go on a quest."
"Quest? I'm already on a quest—a quest to get my copy of Bayonetta 3 back from Daffy," Rick said.
"I'll give it back to you before the big quest, Rick," Daffy promised.
"Oh—and Nabbit will tag along with you on the journey," Toad said.
"What is he going to do?" Rick inquired.
"[Don't worry about me. I know the entire landmass like the back of my hand]" Nabbit muffled through his white handkerchief.
"Alright, dudes! Let's go exterminate the parasites!" Colby roared as he led his friends and Nabbit to World 1-1, but not before the prime minister recommended they stop by the armory to pick up their choice of weaponry.