Chapter 5 Mysterious Mushroom

The professor held the mysterious mushroom underneath a microscope. Luigi and Daisy stood beside him, with Luigi starting to sweat. Now, he hadn't been so worried about the mushroom when he and Daisy had first discovered it, but as time passed, his mind did what it always did in strange situations. That being, jumping to the worst possible conclusions and over-analyzing things to the point where he felt like throwing up. Now sure, it was just a strange new power-up and probably wasn't as dangerous as his stupid little brain was making it out to be. But even still, he couldn't help but worry.

"Hmm.' E Gadd adjusted the settings on the microscope. Luigi didn't know if it was just his imagination, but it almost looked like the mushroom was glaring as this happened, which just made his sweating and churning stomach even more difficult to deal with. "Hmm hmm hmm." E Gadd pulled back from the microscope for a second. He stared at the mushroom, looking as though he was at a complete and total loss.

"Well?" Daisy asked. "Do you know what it might do?"

E Gadd frowned. 'I regret to say… I have no idea." He turned toward Luigi and Daisy. "I've never seen something like this before."

Luigi swallowed a lump. "So… we don't know if it's dangerous or not."

"Well… yes, you could look at this scenario in that way." E Gadd smiled. "However, I will say that this is cause for excitement!" Luigi did a double take as he gestured to the mushroom. "This is a completely new power-up! You two have discovered something that no one in the Mushroom World has ever seen before!" E Gadd directed his shining smile back at them. "That's more than enough reason to celebrate! People get into history books for discoveries like this!"

"You know," Daisy said as a smile grew on her own face. "That is a very good point! We really have found something special here!" She giggled and put her hand on Luigi's shoulder, patting it in a way that was actually pretty reassuring. "Isn't this great, Lou?"

Luigi took the time to think about this. He still felt a little weird looking upon the fuzzy anomaly that was this new power-up, and yet… "Yeah." His excitement grew like a flower in spring. "Yeah, yeah! This is great! This is an incredible discovery!"

"Indubitably!" E Gadd chuckled. "Of course, given how we aren't one hundred percent certain if this mushroom is safe to consume, I don't advise eating it to test out it's function. But at the same time, you two have more than enough reason to feel proud." He giggled as he looked back at the mushroom. "And I have more than enough reason to feel excited! I want to study this mushroom! I want to uncover its genetic structure, I want to figure out what exactly this mushroom does!" He turned back to Luigi and Daisy. "Would you two mind if I kept it with me in the lab for a little bit?"

"Sure," Luigi said. He probably responded to that question a little too quickly, given his anxieties, but even still. If anything, he was glad that he was no longer responsible for this mushroom, that someone was actively and eagerly volunteering to take it off his hands. He managed to smile as he thought about how good this was, and how E Gadd having the mushroom meant there was no reason to worry and no reason to fret.

"Yeah, it's no skin off our backs," Daisy said.

"Splendid!" E Gadd chuckled. "I will study this mushroom, AND I will go out of my way to tell authorities about this discovery." His giggling turned into full-on laughter, and he started to shake in addition to that. "Oh man, oh man, oh man!"

Luigi chuckled. If nothing else, he could appreciate E Gadd's enthusiasm, as it was the very definition of infectious. Case and point, it helped Luigi feel a little less queasy as he observed it. He smiled, as he watched his old friend act in a manner that was very similar to when he discovered new types of ghosts.

"Well, thank you so much, Elvin.' He beamed. "We'll leave you to it. I hope you have fun."

"Oh, I will! I definitely will!" E Gadd laughed once again, his energy comparable to a firework shooting up into the sky.

Smiling, Luigi and Daisy walked out of the house. Once they stepped out into the fresh air, Luigi took in a deep breath. Everything was okay. Nothing bad was happening; he was back out in the fresh air, and all the burdens he had been carrying with him were melting away. Everything was going to be okay, he just knew it.

"You okay?" Daisy asked.

Luigi blinked and turned toward his girlfriend. "Why do you ask?"

"Lou," Daisy said as she raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you and I both know that you were a nervous wreck when we brought the mushroom to E Gadd." Luigi blinked again, making Daisy smirk. "That's right, you can't hide anything from me, Luigi Mario. I'm not just a tomboy; I'm an observant tomboy."

Luigi laughed right alongside Daisy. "Right, that's one hundred percent true." He took off his cap and scratched his head. "But… yeah, I was feeling a little nervous. I mean… it's something new. It's something potentially dangerous. For all we knew, that mushroom could be a poison mushroom in disguise or something along those lines. If we weren't paying attention and actually decided to eat it…"

Daisy snickered. "You eating a mysterious mushroom that you've never seen before without even thinking about it? Talk about out of character, Luigi!"

Luigi, caught off guard by that quip in the best way possible, chuckled. "True. That is very true." His face fell a little bit. "Still… well, you know."

"Yeah, I do. I mean, I will admit that I think you're getting worried over nothing, but… well, if you're scared, you're scared. If you don't know what's going on and you're worrying as a result… well, I can see how that would throw you off balance." She reached out and wrapped her right arm around Luigi. "Which is why I'm gonna stay close to you. As long as I'm here, you have no reason to be scared, Luigi. I'm tough enough to take on Bowser. A silly mushroom ain't gonna cause you any grief as long as I'm here."

Luigi's heart felt as though it was melting. "Thanks, Daisy." He hesitated, debating over whether or not he should say the next thing on his mind, before deciding that the time was right. "I love you."

Daisy gasped. She pulled away from Luigi, staring at him with wide eyes. "You… you…"

"I know, I know." Luigi chuckled sheepishly. "We haven't been dating for very long. Saying the L word to each other so soon is a little strange." His heart beating in a smoother rhythm than he was used to, Luigi stepped toward the princess of Sarasaland and took her hands. "But I don't care. I love you, Daisy. You are everything I need and more."

Daisy gawked before sniffling. She smiled as a tear fell out of her eye. "Luigi…" she wiped her face and wrapped him in a hug. "I love you too."

Luigi felt like he was going to swoon. The worries he had regarding the mushroom weren't even a blip on his radar at the moment. He hugged Daisy back, thanking his lucky stars that he got the opportunity to meet such a lovely young woman. Seriously, he hadn't done anything to deserve her, and yet here she was.

"Thank you," Luigi whispered. He hugged her even tighter until an idea popped up in his mind, making him pull away. "Hey, do you want to go to Tayce T's bakery? I hear that she perfected a recipe for a chocolate mayonnaise cake recently."

Daisy wrinkled her nose. "Mayonnaise in a cake? Can I get a G-ROSS!"

Luigi laughed. "Well then, how about a lemon charlotte? I hear those are good; she makes them look like little beehives. She even puts little bees made out of sugar on the top."

"Hmm. That does sound good." Daisy grinned. "You know what, why not? That sounds like it'll be refreshing!"

Luigi smiled. "Good." With that, they walked away from E Gadd's house. As they did, Luigi could say that he had never been so relieved in his life. The mushroom was safe and being taken care of, he was getting a chance to eat a delicious dessert with the best woman in the universe… this was turning out to be an amazing day!

…

The moon hung overhead with half of it illuminated. It was a pretty clear night, with not a cloud in the sky. This was a time when people could feel safe walking around. It sure beat walking around during a new moon, as well as a full moon.

God help any of the poor Toads who decided to walk around during the full moon.

A shadowy figure sneaking through Toad Town under the light of the half moon smirked when they had that thought. They stuck to the shadows, making sure that not a soul saw them. They had an important mission, a mission given to them by their master. The master had told them that they needed to recover an important item, an item that they wanted to use for their own purposes. The figure's master hadn't revealed what those reasons were, but she didn't need to. Everyone knew that when she had a plan, she was going to do everything in her power to see it through. They weren't going to listen to nay sayers and she especially wasn't going to let anything get in the way of accomplishing her goal.

And for what it's worth, the figure was VERY excited to see their master accomplish her goals. It was like watching a fireworks display, in the sense that it was fun to observe and filled one with excitement. The figure trusted their master with every last fiber of their cursed being, and they would sacrifice their life for her. They would move Heaven and Earth for her. They would kill for her.

So, to the shadows they stuck. They practically drifted through Toad town, making no noise and leaving next to no sign that they had even been present. They kept their eyes open, trying to find the one specific place that they had been asked to go. When they didn't see it, they fished a scroll out of their pocket. Their master had given it to them as instructions to follow, which… yes, the figure definitely should've paid it some mind before heading out on the mission. That was a lapse in judgement on their part.

But no matter. The instructions told them exactly where they needed to go, which made them smile in the most sneaky way possible. They picked up the pace, for while the night was still relatively young, they didn't want to be out when the sun came up. Their pack was secret, top secret. They operated in their own special way, and no one could know about them. At least, no one who didn't suffer from the same curse they did.

Eventually, they reached their destination, a house on the outskirts of Toad Town. Testing to see if they could get through the windows, the figure was pleased to see that they were unlocked. Sliding the window up, they made their way into the house. Once the window was closed back up, they snuck through the house without making a single, solitary sound. They didn't just stick to the shadows at this point. They WERE the shadows.

The figure kept their eyes peeled. The house was a mess, a BIG mess. That had the potential to make locating the object their master wanted a little more tricky, but… oh well. They were a trained thief, and this was far from their first mission. They would find the object. They would find it and bring it back to the pack. They could already imagine the look of glee in their master's eyes when she saw the item she wanted him to snatch. He searched and searched until he saw it, resting on a table out in the open. Given how dangerous this furry mushroom was, the figure was kinda surprised that it wasn't being stored in a safe or anything else to keep it safe. But that was alright; this made their job MUCH easier.

"Splendid," they whispered. They nabbed the mushroom, stuck it in their pocket, and snuck out of the house.