(A/N: Well, this next story proves that even a game like "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga" has proven to be a source of inspiration for me. The idea also has to do with something that we learned about during the Minion side-quest from the remastered game. Some details might be a little different in this fanfic, but I think you'll enjoy the story. Let's get it started!)
Mario and Luigi were finally able to relax for once, after dealing with one big problem after another since they arrived in the Beanbean Kingdom. They had just escorted Princess Peach through the very dangerous Teehee Valley, keeping her safe from the Gritty Goombas who lived there. Those creatures were so annoying, and they really seemed to enjoy kidnapping Peach about as much as Bowser did.
And just when they almost there (and ready to breathe a sigh of relief), there was a huge, tree-like monster blocking the way to the Little Fungitown Lift, and it looked like it was going to attack the princess! But Mario and Luigi weren't about to let that creature harm her! They fought the tree-beast and defeated it in no time at all!
Now they were all in Little Fungitown, and the princess was safe at last. She was currently resting up in the Embassy after all she had been through on the way to this town. Sure, the journey here seemed long, fraught with danger, and far from fun, but the town looked nice, so it seemed to be worth it. The brothers decided to check up on Peach and see how she was doing.
"Mario, Luigi... A Game Arcade near here offers entertainment to the local residents. I know there isn't anything like it in the Mushroom Kingdom, so I'm considering a visit." Peach said. (A/N: The Super Mario Adventures comic shows her playing "Super Mario Bros.", so I wouldn't be surprised if the princess is something of a gamer herself.)
Mario and Luigi seemed interested when they heard this. They liked to play video games as much as the next person, and they thought that maybe, like the princess, they should check it out.
"Mario, have you and your brother been there yet?" Peach asked her boyfriend.
"Not yet, but now that you mentioned it, I'm thinking we should see it. Do you want to go there with us?" Mario asked her.
"Yes, I think I will visit it... a little bit later." Peach replied.
"Okie-dokie. You rest up, and we'll just look around in the meantime." Luigi said.
Since there were no troubles in Little Fungitown, Mario and Luigi decided that it wouldn't hurt to walk around the place and see what there was to see. They learned that this town was nice and calm, and very much like Toad Town back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Well, when Bowser wasn't causing trouble, that is.
"You know, I'm under the impression that some of the Toads who immigrated here did so just to try and get away from Bowser." Mario whispered to Luigi with a chuckle.
"I can understand why, but they really needn't fear for their lives back in the Mushroom Kingdom, since Bowser's main target has always been Peach. He never once cared about kidnapping the Toads. Why would he want them when he'd much rather have Peach?" Luigi whispered back.
"Well, I remember that Bowser also had a tendency to turn the poor, innocent Toads into inanimate objects, so that may also be the reason why they left. But I haven't seen him do that in a while." Mario said.
"You're right, Mario. Bowser did put them through that kind of torture during our earliest days in the Mushroom Kingdom. It's-a been so long since he's done it that I guess I just... forgot." Luigi said.
When they happened upon the arcade, a Toad was standing outside of it, and he was yelling in a very loud voice so everyone could hear, "Invince! Invince! Invincishroom! This unique mushroom is a mix of 1-Up Mushrooms and Stars from the Mushroom Kingdom! Come now! Don't you crave an Invincishroom? Play to win! See inside for more details!"
Some other Toads heard this and began wondering out loud if an Invincishroom would do great things for them if they ate one. And Mario and Luigi overheard them.
"Hmm... I'm thinking that maybe we should go in there and try to win one of those Invincishrooms and see what it's-a like for ourselves. What do you say to that idea?" Mario suggested to Luigi.
"I dunno, Mario. This 'Invincishroom' sounds like some sort of ploy just to bring in customers. It may not really exist, but if it does, it may not be all that great. What if it's-a fake?" Luigi asked.
"Well, we were planning to check out the arcade, anyway, and while we do that, I think we should try to learn more about these Invincishrooms in the process. Let's-a go!" Mario said as he walked into the arcade without further ado.
"Mama-mia... Why do I have the sick feeling that something bad is going to happen there?" Luigi asked the readers as he nervously followed his brother into the arcade.
But the arcade looked to be a pretty neat place. It had a few interesting games that some Toads were playing. Yeah, it wouldn't hurt for Mario and Luigi to play a game or two while they were here.
When the arcade proprietor saw the Mario Bros. enter and look around his establishment, he said to them, "Welcome! What do you say? Would you like to play? Give it a try! If you get a super-nice score, I'll give you a free Invincishroom!"
"You get the Mushroom for free, you say?! Then that settles it. We're going to play a game, and we're going to win it." Mario said.
"That's the spirit!" said the proprietor admiringly.
"But how are we going to do that? All the machines have a Toad playing at them, except for the one that's out of order!" Luigi pointed out.
"Not quite. Look at that one over there!" Mario said, pointing to a working machine that no one was playing. It turned out that this was the arcade's most popular machine, and it was called "The Star 'Stache Smash".
"If it's-a the most popular machine, then why wasn't anyone playing it when we got here?" Luigi asked.
"Non lo so. I don't know; maybe they just finished a round of it and moved on to another game afterwards. But who cares? Let's-a play!" Mario said as he checked the rules of the game. To his happiness, they were simple and easy to figure out, so Mario and Luigi played the game together. It was very easy, and they quickly beat the high score of 200 points. They had twice that many points when they finished playing!
When the proprietor heard what the new high score was in the game, he was very impressed, and he said, "WOW! Nice score! Super-nice, even! All righty! Here you go!"
The proprietor then handed Mario a Mushroom unlike any he and Luigi had ever seen before. So now the brothers knew for a fact that the Invincishroom really did exist. However, for a Mushroom that was said to be a mix of 1-Up Mushrooms and Stars from the Mushroom Kingdom, it looked pretty suspicious to Luigi.
"Vuoi condividere? Do you want to share this?" Mario asked Luigi, holding out the Invincishroom to him so he could take a bite if he wished.
"No thanks." Luigi said as he shook his head hard. He wasn't sure if it was a really good idea to eat strange foods like that one, and it was by far the strangest piece of food he'd ever seen.
"Okie-dokie! More for me!" Mario said, and without hesitation, he ate the Invincishroom in one go.
"Umm-yum! Isn't it delectable?" the proprietor asked as Mario ate the odd-looking Mushroom.
Mario seemed to be enjoying the Mushroom, but right after he was asked that question, he was unable to provide an answer. Mario looked like he was going to be sick.
"Bro, what's wrong?" Luigi asked in concern, but his brother didn't answer him. Luigi was shocked as Mario's face suddenly turned as green as his cap and shirt, and then he passed out right there in the arcade!
"MARIO!" the frightened Luigi exclaimed, panicking at the sight. He picked up the unconscious plumber in his arms and rushed him to the Embassy as fast as he could. But no one else seemed to notice, for they were very absorbed in their games. And the proprietor didn't seem to think that anything was seriously wrong, either.
Princess Peach was deeply shocked to see what had happened to Mario when Luigi brought him in. Luigi told her what happened, and she alerted the Toads at the front desk, who immediately sent for the doctor. After a close examination, the doctor found out that poor Mario had contracted an awful disease called 'Bean Fever', which Luigi and Peach never heard of before.
"This illness afflicts many travelers who aren't used to the food in this region." the Toad doctor said.
"Figures. He got sick from eating that Invincishroom... if that's really what it was..." Luigi said.
"I forgot to ask you, Luigi, what is an Invincishroom?" Peach asked. She never heard of such a thing before, and she was curious.
"It's-a said to be a mix of 1-Up Mushrooms and Stars from the Mushroom Kingdom." Luigi said. He remembered what the Toad outside the arcade had been saying about the item.
"If that Mushroom really is what they say, then I don't think it should have done that to him! Mario has had tons of those back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Not together, mind you, but they have never affected him so negatively before." said Peach.
"So maybe it wasn't really what they said?" Luigi asked.
"Probably. What did the Mushroom look like? You did see it, right?" Peach asked.
Luigi tried to remember, but he'd forgotten after seeing his brother turn green. That frightened him. He sadly admitted, "I saw it, but non ricordo... I don't remember... But I can tell you that it didn't look like any Mushroom I'd ever seen. It looked very suspicious to me."
"If I could see what that Mushroom looked like, I could probably tell you why it affected my patient the way it did." the doctor said.
"But the only way you can see it is if the arcade has another one of those in stock, and I really don't feel like going back there to find out, because I know I'm going to yell at the proprietor when I see him!" Luigi said.
"Actually, there is another way to get it... only it won't be any fun for Mario..." Peach said.
"What way?" Luigi asked.
"We'll have to make him... throw up the Mushroom..." Peach said slowly.
"Make Mario throw up?! Oh, come on, Peach! Mario doesn't need to be any sicker than he already is! Isn't the Bean Fever bad enough?!" Luigi complained.
"Luigi, I don't like the idea of Mario suffering any more than you do, but perhaps throwing up will help cure the Bean Fever some." said Peach.
"Actually, the main cure for Bean Fever is Crabbie Grass, but you're onto something. Throwing up can sometimes help a person get rid of whatever's causing them to feel ill." said the doctor.
Luigi sighed and said, "All right, I'll go with it. So, how are we going to make my brother puke his guts out if he couldn't do it in the arcade?"
"I'll just give him the concoction that I give my patients when they're suffering from food poisoning. It's really gross, but it works every time. And I never thought about it before, but Bean Fever does sound similar to food poisoning in a way." said the doctor. He left the Embassy to go prepare the concoction at the hospital.
"I hope this idea of yours works." Luigi said to Peach.
"I think it will. When I felt sick enough to throw up, Toadsworth said that it was a good thing. My body was getting rid of what made me sick. Perhaps Mario will start to feel better if he throws up the Mushroom." Peach said, looking at Mario with a worried expression on her face. She wanted him to get well.
About five minutes later, the doctor returned with the concoction, saying, "Here it is! This will do the trick." And he gave it to Mario, who was able to drink it.
Well, it worked fast because after he finished it, Mario sat bolt upright, looking and feeling like he was going to throw up. Luigi saw this and grabbed the wastebasket, holding it up to him. Mario threw up in there. Sure enough, the so-called Invincishroom was right on top, and the doctor put on special gloves before fishing it out and putting it in a bag.
Now that the Invincishroom was out of Mario's system, he was on the road to recovery. Mario's skin was still slightly green, but he was feeling a lot better than he was when he ate the Mushroom.
"What happened?" Mario asked.
"Mario! You're okay!" Luigi exclaimed in joy, hugging his brother tightly and crying in relief.
"Sweetie, you contracted an illness called 'Bean Fever' from eating an Invincishroom... if that's what it really was..." Peach explained.
"I did?" Mario asked, returning Luigi's hug.
"You did. And even though you just threw up the Mushroom, you haven't quite recovered from the disease yet. Your skin is still slightly green." the doctor said.
Peach showed Mario his reflection in her compact mirror, and he gasped and exclaimed, "Mama-mia!"
"It'll take some Crabbie Grass from Guffawha Ruins to completely cure it, but I don't have any on hand at the moment. I'm all out. And you're going to need that stuff if you hope to make a full recovery from the disease." said the doctor.
"And I don't think Little Fungitown has a pharmacy with the cure." Peach said sadly.
"No, there's no pharmacy, and even if there was, they would not have any Crabbie Grass, either, because Guffawha Ruins is said to be a very dangerous place with a horrible monster living deep within it." said the doctor.
"Then... that means we've got to go and get it ourselves, doesn't it?" asked a nervous Luigi.
"I'm afraid so." the doctor replied apologetically.
Although Luigi hated the idea of going to dangerous places with horrible monsters, he'd do it if it meant helping Mario, so he nodded and said, "Okay. I'll do it!"
"Let's-a go!" said Mario, leaping to his feet.
"Mario, you should probably stay here and rest up." Peach said, putting her hand on his arm, trying to get him to sit back down.
"How come, Peach? I'm feeling well enough to go out and help Luigi look for the cure. I'm not going to sit here on my butt and let him go it alone." Mario replied.
"Well, if you're going, then I'm not going to stay here and wait for you boys to return. I'm going with you!" Peach said.
"Oh, no you're not!" Luigi said.
"Oh, yes I am! I want to help Mario as much as you do, Luigi! You're not going to make me stay behind when I want to do what I can to help my boyfriend!" Peach said.
"Peach, no offense, but on the way here, you got captured by Gritty Goombas who were probably planning to assault you. And then you were attacked by a tree-like creature before we reached the lift to this place." Mario recalled.
"Those Gritty Goombas came at me out of nowhere, and that tree-creature wasn't there at first. But you should know that those enemies were very minor things, Mario! And you know well that I've dealt with far worse than them!" Peach reminded him.
Mario and Luigi knew who Peach was talking about: Bowser, of course. Still, they didn't want her to come with them if Guffawha Ruins was supposed to be more dangerous than Teehee Valley was. They tried to talk the princess out of joining them, but she refused to budge. She wanted to help, and she was going to do it; no exceptions!
"All right. You win. You can join us if you want." said Mario, giving in.
"But if something happens to you, Toadsworth is going to pin the blame entirely on us, not you, since we were told to take care of you and make sure nothing bad happens to you." said Luigi.
"If something does happen, and he asks, then I'll just tell him that I badgered you into letting me come along, and I wouldn't let up until you caved in. He can't blame you if it was my idea." Peach promised.
"Peach, if you tell him that, then he'll decide that you cannot be trusted on your own. You know what he'll do next? He'll take away your independence, and that means he will never let you leave the castle by yourself again, if he lets you leave at all." said Mario.
"Doesn't bother me. He knows that I'll have to leave for diplomatic missions and business in other kingdoms every now and again, because I have had to do so in the past. But don't worry; I'll just appoint you boys to be my bodyguards if I ever have to leave the castle." Peach said.
Mario couldn't argue with that idea. He always did love spending time with Peach, since she was his girlfriend, and he would constantly make sure that she was safe from any danger that was out there. He could handle that.
"Okie-dokie. You've twisted my arm." Mario said.
Luigi sighed, but he capitulated, saying, "Why do I get the feeling that something really bad is going to happen?"
"Where's Guffawha Ruins?" Peach asked the doctor.
"West of this town. Do you have a map? I can show you right where it's located." the doctor said.
"Yup. I've got it right here." Mario said, pulling the map out of his pocket and showing it to the doctor.
"Okay. You need to go... here." said the doctor, pointing out the spot to them.
"Huh. That's not very far away from here." said Mario.
"Just go back into Teehee Valley, keep to the left, and you'll find the elevator to the place in no time." the doctor said.
"Grazie. Thank you." said Luigi as Mario folded up the map and put it away.
"You're welcome, and good luck over there. I'm going to examine the Mushroom that Mario threw up." said the doctor as he walked out of the Embassy and made his way back to the hospital.
But the story isn't over yet. No, this is just the end of Chapter 1! Yeah, this story was getting too long to be a one-shot, so it's going to have chapters! Stay tuned if you wish to read on!