[Gen/Act] Superstar Luigi: Battle Star Legend (T)

I decided it was about time to post one of my other fanfics since my Zelda one has been going rather slow lately. xP This is my Mario--well technically Luigi--fanfic, Super Star Luigi: Battle Star Legend and my most popular story. It is a direct sequel to Super Mario Galaxy, but keep in mind that I started writing this BEFORE SMG2 was even thought of. Now, let's start with a short prologue before really kicking things off here. :]


SUPER STAR LUIGI: BATTLE STAR LEGEND
Prologue
There was a time in history where a young plumber, appearing to be no different than any other human being, had traveled through the deep depths of space in order to save the universe. Although he had many allies, the fact that he was able to go such distances in such an amazing time was incredible. The reason this brave and kind plumber was able to do this difficult quest was that he was born with a gift. The gift received by being one of the seven star children born many years ago, which was a strange and mysterious power. This plumber and his brother were two of these children.

Several weeks have passed since this plumber had completed this adventure and rescued the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was yet another star child. He, his brother, this princess, and a group of the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants returned home safely and peacefully afterward to continue to carry out their lives. The one thing that seemed to be out of place, however, was that the evil force the young plumber had defeated in space had not been seen in quite some time. This evil was the plumber's continuous nemesis who constantly tried to stop him, but never prevailed.

Assuming this villain had finally given up, the plumber and his friends continued to look forward to never-ending peace, only to be completely unaware that the plumber's brother, a slightly cowardly, but promising one, would in time be due for his own grand adventure.


That is that. As you probably guessed, Luigi is this story's main hero. I believe he needs a full SMG-length adventure of his own and he'll get one with this story. The first chapter will be posted soon. I have 11 chapters so far and I'll be fixing them up a little.

And chapter 1 begins. Enjoy. :]


Chapter 1: A Friendly Meeting

It was one dusky afternoon in Mushroom Kingdom when two plumbers, Mario and his brother, Luigi, walked along a dusty path into the outskirts of Toad Town, where the Toads and the heir to the kingdom’s throne resided. The two brothers were to meet their friends, Princess Peach, the rightful monarch of the kingdom and Yoshi, the dinosaur and oldest of the four, for an evening hang out. All four had known each other for a long time, almost since the brothers and Peach were babies. Mario and Luigi, though, being brothers, had a bond stronger than that of any friendship they could make.

Why is that so? The most logical explanation would be that the two brothers were twins, fraternal twins to be exact, though Mario is often considered to be the “older twin” as he emerged from his sling first, brought with Luigi by a stork long ago. Now the two brothers have maintained that bond that many pairs of twins share, though like typical siblings, they also share a friendly rivalry and even quarrel sometimes. Both were so eager to say something that neither of them could refrain from having brotherly conversation any longer.

“Hey, Luigi, you know what being out here always reminds-a me of?” Mario asked as the two walked on.

“Oh? What’s-a that?” Luigi wondered. Mario smiled and viewed his surroundings for a brief moment. Occasional trees lined the pathway up to the destination of the two brothers, with flowers and birds here and there. The sun was shining bright over the horizon, not a cloud present in the sky. Every now and then a bird or two would soar overhead in the sky, going about their own business.

“It reminds-a me of the adventures we’ve been on,” he replied, turning to Luigi. “We’ve had to travel a lot together and that’s-a almost exactly what we’re doing now.” Luigi couldn’t agree more and returned the smile.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said. “If being out here reminds-a me of anything, it’s-a usually my habit of making myself look silly.” Mario chuckled at Luigi’s remark. He knew he was right about that one. Luigi really had been known to make himself look silly whenever he got into trouble, even feeling a bit embarrassed about it at times.

“Like the time I found you clinging to a tree to hide from a bug?” Mario laughed. Luigi went red in the cheeks upon hearing this.

“Don’t remind me…”

Only a few more minutes passed before the two brothers spotted their friends in the distance coming from other parts of Toad Town. Yoshi could be seen jogging along a group of trees in the direction of the usual meeting spot, his green body almost blending in with the environment around him. For a dinosaur, he was never very scary, and even had his own group of friends, the Yoshis, on an island out at sea. Yoshi lived there peacefully and it just so happens to be the exact place where he met Mario and Luigi, though both of them were babies at the time.

Peach was walking up a nearby path which led almost straight to the Mushroom Kingdom castle. When Mario and Luigi saw her, they assumed she’d snuck out again, as Toad, the one who kept an eye on her, always tried to keep her from getting in trouble, even if she was simply going to be in the company of the boys. They never did mind it, though, seeing as they’d be there to guard her if anything happened, and even convinced Peach that they wouldn’t ever tell on her. Luigi always thought Mario had a secret of his own, however, that he affectionately admired the princess.

“Hey guys!” Peach greeted as the brothers and Yoshi approached one another. “It wasn’t easy getting out this time, but I managed it!” Mario and Luigi chuckled again.

“Pulling your usual Toadette-distracts-Toad-while-you-make-your-escape routine again?” Mario asked with a smile. Peach usually relied on Toadette to distract her male counterpart while the princess escaped, but this time that was not the case. She simply smiled and folded her arms.

“No, you big stinker,” Peach replied. “Toad isn’t falling for that anymore. I had to sneak out through the back of the castle while he wasn’t around.” Luigi simply laughed at this remark before replying.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Toad was going nuts worrying about you now as-a we speak,” he remarked with a chuckle.

“Very funny, Luigi,” Peach said, though she really did find the joke rather funny herself. “Now c’mon, the meadow’s just over there.”

A wide and open meadow on a hill just outside of Toad Town was the foursome’s usual meeting place. It was a beautiful area, the aroma of flowers sweeping the land and peaceful creatures such as rabbits and squirrels scurrying about on it. A few lone trees were scattered across the meadow, however most of it was open and contained nothing but grass and flowers. It was definitely everything that any group of friends should want to have as a place to hang out. At least that’s what they all agreed on, though it was most likely true.

As the four walked up the not so steep slope of the hill, they entered the beautiful meadow ahead of them. The setting sun was just on the other side, sinking below the horizon. Peach gazed at it with a smile forming on her face and sat down on the soft green grass. Mario and Luigi sat down beside her with Yoshi following. A light breeze blew through the meadow as they sat and watched several more little animals hurry by through the sea of green.

“I simply love being out here,” Peach said. “It smells so pretty.” She then picked a daisy from the grass and stuck it in her flowing blonde hair. Mario smiled as he admired the flower.

“That looks-a good on you,” he complimented. Luigi sarcastically rolled his eyes as he reminded himself of his own secret assumption. However, Peach caught his maneuver before he could do anything else.

“What was that for?” she asked him. Luigi suddenly jerked around to face the puzzled princess.

“Uhh, nothing,” he nervously replied. “I agree with you though, it is-a nice out here.” Luigi then stood up in the grass and looked around for the nearest tree. Yoshi looked up to face him just as he spotted one to his left. Luigi started running towards it, hoping to get an even better view of the meadow from another angle.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To get a better view of this place!” Luigi called back. “I’m not sure we’ve-a seen all of it yet!” Mario, Peach, and Yoshi watched as the green-clothed plumber jumped onto the tree’s trunk and began climbing up to the lowest branch. Even though he knew his brother was probably light enough to sit upon a tree branch, Mario soon followed anyway, just to see what Luigi got out of viewing the meadow from above.

Once Luigi settled himself atop the branch of the tree, he began viewing the vast meadow below. He was not at all bored with what he saw, for the meadow looked much prettier from higher up, at least in his opinion. It also seemed to extend further than any of the foursome had ever known before, which meant he had been right from before. There really was a lot more to the meadow than the four of them had originally anticipated and Luigi decided he was interested in exploring it further. He turned around on the branch to see his brother watching him, and smiled as he sat.

“Hey, Mario! You’ve got to see this!” he called from above. “This meadow goes-a really far out there!”

“Really?” Mario wondered, just as Peach and Yoshi had strolled over. “This I have to see!” With that, Mario walked up to the tree trunk to join his brother and began climbing.

“Hey, if this meadow really goes as far as Luigi says, why don’t we—"

BOOOOOM. Peach had been cut off by the sound of the terribly loud noise that sounded forth in the distance. The four suddenly jumped in fright, Luigi so much that he lost his balance and fell over, getting his foot caught on the branch, which left him helplessly hanging there. Mario had been half way up the tree and lost his grip due to the impact of the boom, causing him to plunge back down into the grass back first. Nobody noticed Luigi, but Peach gasped at Mario’s descent from the tree and cupped her mouth with her hands once more.

“Mario! Are you alright?” Peach wondered with concern.

“I’m fine, but what on earth was that?” he asked as he stood back up. They curiously looked around to see where the booming noise had come from.

To their dismay, they turned around to see thick, black smoke rising from Toad Town, seemingly right where the castle was located. Peach gasped in horror at the sight she saw, hoping Toad and the others there were alright. Still, from how much smoke was rising into the originally clean sky, it didn’t seem likely that no one was hurt or very safe at all. Could this be what the group thought it might be?

“What the…?!” Mario exclaimed in horror when he saw the sights before him. He then looked and saw his brother hanging by one foot on a tree branch. Mario groaned and simply folded his arms.

“Great, now we have a mysterious explosion and my brother is playing hang-man,” he remarked. Luigi folded his arms and rolled his eyes again.

“Haha,” he said, sarcastically. “Can you help me down now?” Mario heaved a sigh.

“Fine. Yoshi, you and Peach go on ahead,” he replied. “Luigi and I will be right behind you. But be careful.”

“You got it,” Yoshi said. He motioned Peach to follow him back to Toad Town.

Mario, however, sighed again before helping his brother. Still rather annoyed at how ridiculous Luigi looked up there, he climbed up to the branch he was caught on and carefully crawled across it, keeping an eye on Peach and Yoshi as he went. Luigi’s arms were still folded as Mario began untangling the branch from his foot. Just as Luigi landed on his rear, Mario was already sliding back down the tree trunk.

“Now c’mon!” he said as he helped Luigi up.

“H-hey! Don’t pull me so quickly!” Luigi replied, having been jerked to his feet by the arm. “I’m coming!”

The two immediately raced down the hill back to Toad Town as fast as their legs could carry them, hoping they weren’t too late to save the Toads, as well as the kingdom. If things were going as Mario and Luigi thought they might be, then they should have no problem stopping whatever was happening at the time being.


I hope peeps don't mind that I've added in Mario and Luigi's accents.

I just finished fixing up chapter 2. I hope I get some feedback soon!


Chapter 2: Bowser’s Revenge

Mario and Luigi were still speeding up go to join their friends ahead when they finally began to approach Toad Town. Luigi, being faster than his brother, got ahead easily, but would not be running much longer. They entered Toad Town again in a few mere minutes, only to find the castle up in flames and the Toads fleeing in a big panic. The two brothers suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the path, and frantically began looking for Peach and Yoshi. However, the princess and dinosaur were nowhere to be found, causing their own fear to only grow.

Deciding to continue up the path to the castle, Mario and Luigi kept going and did not stop. Both had a hunch what was going on, and they couldn’t be more right when they reached the front door of the castle and found none other than Bowser, the king of the Koopa clan who were turtle-like creatures, standing there with his evil grin. He was almost always the one behind the trouble that erupted once in awhile in Mushroom Kingdom, but Mario, with some help from Luigi, always stopped him. Normally, Bowser would just kidnap Peach, but little did Mario and Luigi know, he had other plans on his mind as well. All this time since the saving of the universe, Mario and Luigi thought Bowser had finally given in, but obviously that was not the case.

Beside Bowser were two of his primary minions, his son, Bowser Jr. and Kamek, the Magikoopa. Kamek was the one who attempted to kidnap Mario and Luigi long ago when they were babies and now it seemed as if revenge was written all over him. Bowser Jr, merely inherited the bitter grudge his father had against Mario and Luigi. Standing near him and Bowser Jr. were Peach and Yoshi, roped up. The two were holding their ropes and waiting for their master’s next orders while silently laughing to themselves.

Suddenly, as Mario looked up at his nemesis with angry eyes, Bowser plucked him by his shirt and held him up in front of his angry face. Luigi gasped in horror and stood back. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger.

“Mario!” Luigi called. He leaped onto Bowser and tried to free his brother, but it was no use. Bowser had grown much too strong and simply knocked Luigi to the ground, who could feel Bowser’s increased strength from the blow. He yelped in pain as he hit at a rather great impact while Kamek and especially Bowser Jr. rudely laughed at Luigi’s failed attempt to save his brother. Mario tried to break free himself, but Bowser’s strength had his greatly outdone. He simply hung there, clutching Bowser’s giant hand.

“Bowser!” Mario exclaimed. “What is the meaning of all this?! Haven’t you had enough?!” Bowser laughed malevolently in Mario’s face. His enormous size and strength rendered Mario helpless, his clawed hands clutching the short plumber’s shirt tightly. His sharp teeth, big horns, and large, spiky shell, not to mention clawed feet and hands, were frightening enough to make anybody run.

“Bwahahahaha! I’ve had enough of you being a thorn in my side, I’ll tell you that much!” Bowser replied. “Which means the only thing to do is to get you out of my way for good! Revenge…WILL BE MINE!” Peach squirmed and fought to get out of her ropes and turned her attention to Luigi, who was slowly getting back on his feet, feeling bruised and hurt from the impact of Bowser’s fist.

“Luigi!” she helplessly shouted. “Can’t you do something?!” Bowser laughed his evil laugh again and looked down upon Luigi. Mario hung there in Bowser’s hand, fearful of what he was about to do to his brother, as Bowser very well knew of Luigi’s slight cowardice.

“You? Stop me?” Bowser rudely responded. “You’re just the little weakling you’ve always been, Luigi. Far too weak to even lay a scratch on me! Hahahaha!” Upon hearing the word “weakling,” Luigi gritted his teeth in anger and his hands turned into fists. He wanted to save his brother and friends no matter what. However, Mario had other ideas.

“Luigi! Get out of here!” he shouted. “Bowser is-a much too strong!” Luigi didn’t move at all. He simply stood there, getting the urge to teach Bowser a lesson. However, Luigi knew he couldn’t defeat Bowser now, not while he had the strength he now possessed. He stayed right where he was, unsure of what to do while anger burned through his mind. His body was shaking slightly as Bowser walked a little closer.

“You know, for once, I think your brother is right, little Luigi. Why don’t you run away in fear?” he teased. Bowser suddenly held up a super-sized bob-omb and while doing so, he said, “Well, either way, I have no reason to let myself get distracted, so I’ll get rid of you!” Luigi’s eyes widened in fear when he saw the huge bomb and started to run. However, he wasn’t fast enough. Just as soon as Bowser tossed the bob-omb, it exploded with great power and sent Luigi soaring into the sky, surrounded by smoke and soot. He screamed in terror as he vanished in the distance. Mario gasped at the evil act and tried to free himself again.

“LUIGI!” he shouted. Bowser loudly and malevolently laughed once more, while he and his minions carried Mario and his friends off, leaving Toad Town’s residents to repair the damage done themselves.

***

Later that night, when the stars were shining and the moon was overhead, Luigi slightly stirred, but was less than half awake. He had his eyes open for a few seconds, but then fell into a deep sleep for the night, not staying awake long enough to know where he was. It wasn’t until early morning when the sun rose that he sat up in the soft sand in which he was lying. Only half-awake, Luigi slowly looked around and noticed he was facing a vast sea. Around him were trees, paths, and more sand. It could only be that he was stranded on an island.

Just as he sat up, Luigi put a hand to his head. Even though it had been hours since Bowser blasted him away, his head still throbbed with a headache. He could barely remember anything. Suddenly, his memory seemed to return just like that. The events in Toad Town raced through his mind at blinding speed, from the moment Luigi and his friends saw Bowser to the moment he was blasted away. He attempted to stand, but the impact of the bomb had been so great. His arms, legs and body ached all over, and his walking became wobbly. Luigi’s clothes were still showing signs of smoke and soot as well.

Before Luigi could get to his feet, however, a blue Yoshi had already trotted up to him, a bright smile on its face.

“Hello!” it said. “I’m glad to see that you’ve finally awoken. You’re Luigi, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” Luigi replied, still coping with headaches and aching limbs. “I’m guessing this is-a Yoshi’s Island?”

“Indeed. I’m Moshi. This is the very island where our friend, Yoshi saved you and your brother long ago,” the blue Yoshi confirmed. “Jump on my back and I’ll take you to meet the rest of us.” Luigi agreed and slowly climbed onto Moshi’s back. Moshi began taking note of the plumber’s condition.

“Hmm…you don’t look too good,” he said. “You ought to take a rest when we get to the others.”

The two started off down one of the paths to the interior of the island. However, the paths were full of enemies, including Koopas, and little mushroom-shaped creatures known as Goombas, probably from Bowser. Luigi attempted to punch them out of the way, but Moshi insisted that he just eat them to save Luigi the energy so he could regain his strength faster. It was a good thing Yoshis could eat practically anything.

Little more time had passed when the two arrived in a big clearing in the forested portion of the island. A group of many different colored Yoshis stood about in the area and greeted Luigi and Moshi heartily. Luigi hopped off of his back and all the Yoshis turned their attention to their new guest.

“We heard what happened in Toad Town,” one said. “But don’t worry, Luigi. We can help you get back so you can save your friends!”

“You can?” Luigi asked. “How can I return then? I have to find Bowser.”

“There’s a boat that way down by the dock,” another Yoshi said, pointing slightly to Luigi’s right. “Where it came from, we don’t know, but you should use it. The oars are still there.”

“But how will I know which way to go?”

“The mainland can be seen from here,” Moshi explained. “Just head towards it.” Luigi nodded, wanting to do whatever it took to return.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll leave later once I take a rest.” With that, Luigi plopped down on the ground in front of a nearby rock and wiped some of the soot from his pale blue overalls. The aching in his body was starting to die down, making it unnecessary for Luigi to have a long respite.

Around a half hour later, Luigi felt much more recovered. The aching had completely died down and his strength had been regained. He got up and thanked the Yoshis for letting him stay awhile before leaving. Once Luigi bid farewell, he headed off towards the beach into the woods ahead, feeling ready to try stopping Bowser once more, despite the apparent and significant increase in the Koopa king’s strength and power.

Like before, the path was crawling with enemies, from Goombas to barking chains called Chain Chomps to fly trap plants known as Pirahnas as Luigi began to make his way through. While punching them out of his way, Luigi thought about where his friends and Bowser could be. Perhaps he had taken them far away, perhaps not. Wherever they were, though, Luigi knew he would find them. However, he lost his thoughts by the time he reached the dock and the boat just minutes later.

The small, brown boat floating in the water there was just the right size for Luigi to use. It was a one-person boat and had two oars sitting inside of it. It looked old in appearance, yet sturdy at the same time. Luigi guessed it was still in good enough condition to get him back to the mainland without leaking. He stepped inside of it, settled himself in the center, and took hold of the oars, immediately starting to row his way back to the mainland. Luigi rowed as quickly as possible towards the faint mainland in the distance.

***

Meanwhile, far away from Toad Town, Mario, Peach, and Yoshi sat tied up in a cell deep within Bowser’s fortress. The fortress was dark and eerie on the inside with bats and ghosts flying about in the corridors. Bowser himself was nowhere to be seen in the room where Mario and friends were imprisoned. They simply sat there in the cell helplessly, worrying about Luigi’s safety and the fate of Mushroom Kingdom with Mario and Yoshi captured as well as Peach this time. Mario was the first to speak up.

“Luigi…” he said, hanging his head in sorrow. “Please-a be safe…”

Peach looked at Mario for a brief moment, sensing the sadness in his mind.

“Oh, Mario…” Peach replied. “I’m just as worried as you are. Who knows where Luigi landed out there…” She worriedly frowned as Mario sat back up to lean against the cell wall, deep in thought about his brother.

“Yeah,” Mario agreed. “That’s-a what worries me. Knowing my brother, though, he’s-a going to save us, no matter where he ended up. Oh, brave Luigi!” Peach thought for a moment before responding.

“But Bowser is so powerful now,” she pointed out. “How can Luigi stop him? And how will he find his way back to town? We haven’t any idea how far away that fiend blasted him!”

“I don’t know,” Mario replied. “But he can find out. Luigi has-a always been the brainier of the two of us.”

“I certainly hope you’re right.”

The three friends continued to sit there in the cell, helpless and deep in thought. Even though he had said Luigi was capable of finding a way to save them, Mario wasn’t really sure. Luigi once saved him from a haunted mansion awhile back, standing up to his fear of ghosts, but could he handle this situation as well? The trip through that mansion was not as difficult and serious as this new situation seemed to be. Mario then thought of what Bowser had said about his brother being a weakling. Though he did not want to think Luigi was weak, Bowser was right in one way. Luigi obviously wasn’t strong enough to defeat Bowser with the strength he currently had, however that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of getting there.

Mario did know, however, that Bowser was wrong to say Luigi was a coward. Back in that haunted mansion, Luigi had stood up to many ghosts, and eventually defeated King Boo, the biggest and meanest of the Boos. Mario also reminded himself of how Luigi had willingly gone out to help his brother during other adventures, convincing himself that Luigi was far from incapable of saving Mushroom Kingdom himself. Mario smiled at the thought of what his brother had to do, knowing now that it was Luigi’s turn to be the hero again, this time for his biggest solo adventure yet.

Suddenly, just as Mario was about to say something, Yoshi jumped, hinting that a thought had come to his mind. He turned to look at his friends.

“Hey wait a sec, if I’m not mistaken, Luigi was blasted in the direction of the sea,” he pointed out. “Unless he missed my island, my friends will help him get back to Toad Town. After that, though, I don’t know.” Mario suddenly found himself recalling the previous night’s events in Toad Town and watching Luigi get blasted away.

“Hey, that’s-a right!” he exclaimed. “It’s-a very possible he landed there, although we can’t be sure. Still, we mustn’t tell—”

Before Mario could finish, an evil laugh and the stomping of giant feet could be heard coming down the hall towards the room. Bowser boomed in the doors with an evil grin on his face. He walked right up to Mario and the others, laughing at the misery they currently were experiencing.

“Comfortable?” he asked in a sarcastic voice. “If not, then that’s too bad. My plan of your demise will be complete in a matter of days, Mario! Bwhahahaha!” Mario glared at Bowser with angry eyes and started struggling to break free of his ropes, however it was no use. The knot had been tied much too tight. Bowser then turned to look at Peach and Yoshi, still grinning his evil grin.

“As for your little dinosaur friend here who made a fool of Kamek all those years ago,” Bowser said. “I’ve got special plans for him.” With that, he stormed off out of the room, laughing his usual evil laugh. Mario was now angrier and more worried than ever, knowing now that Luigi not only didn’t have much time to find Bowser, but he didn’t know it either, and there seemed to be no way for him to find out. The situation now seemed almost…hopeless.


I hope my readers are enjoying this so far! :]

Alright, here's chapter 3. Since I don't have any feedback yet, I'll just wait awhile before moving on to the next chapter. I'm sure peeps don't like to continuously scroll through a big wall of text.


Chapter 3: Battle Stars

After rowing for a fair bit amount of time, Luigi finally reached the shore of the mainland. He stepped out of the boat and plopped down against a nearby rock. Exhausted from rowing his way back, Luigi sat there for a minute or two and decided to figure out which way to go next. He noticed there were three paths in front of him to choose from, but wasn’t sure which led back to Toad Town. The path to his right was blocked by a fallen tree, so Luigi knew that choice was out of the question. Another one to his left was heading south down the shore, however Luigi remembered that Toad Town was west of the sea. That left the path straight ahead as the only possible choice.

Once Luigi regained some strength, he set off down the path straight ahead, in hopes he could reach Toad Town without running into trouble. However, it was going to be no easy task, as enemies were freely roaming in these areas as well. Luigi decided then that Bowser must have another new evil plot going on, not just craving to get Mario out of the picture. If Bowser was working on his plans already like he usually does, Luigi would have to work fast, even though he had no idea how much time he had. Time had now become Luigi’s biggest worry.

Fighting his way down the path through the rabble of common enemies, Luigi eventually spotted the tall castle of Toad Town in the distance, getting the repairs it desperately needed. He picked up the pace, this time just knocking any enemies out of his way instead of defeating them on the spot. Suddenly, just as Luigi was nearing the outskirts of town, a Pirahna plant stretched out its stem in his path, causing him to lose his footing and trip. Luigi began to descend down a slope up ahead as a result and unfortunately had landed bottom first on top of a spiky Koopa shell half way down.

“YOWWWCH!” Luigi hollered as the spikes stuck his rear end. He leaped off the shell in the air again while clutching his bottom and landed right at the edge of Toad Town. A few of the Toads were nearby and spotted Luigi on the ground.

“Luigi! You’ve come back!” one Toad exclaimed. The lot of them ran up to the green wearing plumber.

“Are you okay?” another asked.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Luigi replied as he got up and brushed himself off. “Does-a anybody know where Bowser went?”

“Nobody is sure,” the first Toad explained. “But he came back and kidnapped Toad and Toadette, thinking they were going to go look for you. You’ve got to find them!” Luigi’s eyes widened.

“He came back again?” he said. “This isn’t good… but stay calm, I’ll find them. Does-a anybody know anything else about this?”

“Yes. Toadsworth wishes to see you at the castle,” the third Toad replied. “He can help you out.” Luigi nodded, knowing the best thing he could do right now was do whatever the Toads told him.

“Alright, then I’ll go see him right away,” he replied. Luigi then waved good bye to the Toads and headed into town towards the castle.

Along the way, the other Toads greeted Luigi, relieved that he was alright and that they had some hope once again. Luigi then realized how much the Toads were counting on him, just as they had normally counted on Mario. Luigi was their hero this time, and he did not want to let them down now that he was in Mario’s shoes. He arrived at the castle full of confidence, and spotted the elderly Toadsworth at the door. The wise old Toad greeted him with a pleasant smile.

“Oh my! Luigi, you’re alright!” Toadsworth exclaimed. “I’m relieved you’ve returned. Come inside, there’s much I need to tell you.” Luigi obeyed and followed Toadsworth inside the castle.

It had been awhile since the last time Luigi had been in the castle. He’d forgotten how big the first room was, and how loud of an echo it had. There was a long red rug on the floor and several torches lining the walls lit the room. The walls, floor, and ceiling were a shining blue while beautiful crystal chandeliers hung above. Toadsworth turned to face Luigi near where they came in and sighed before he spoke.

“I assume the others told you of what happened to Toad and Toadette?” Toadsworth asked.

“Yeah. They said Bowser showed up again and that you could help me find him,” Luigi replied.

“Indeed, I can. Listen,” Toadsworth began. “You will never be able to defeat Bowser as strong as you currently are. He’s somehow become much more powerful than he was when Mario stopped him from taking over the universe.”

Toadsworth explained that in order for Luigi to be able to stop Bowser now, he would need the power of the six Battle Stars scattered across the Mushroom Kingdom area. These stars were special forms of the power stars Mario and Luigi found in space in during Bowser’s attempt to create his own galaxy, that granted special powers to the one holding them. Each Battle Star not only strengthened the holder’s attack strength by a little bit, but they also gave the holder himself power, giving the ability to use more powerful attacks.

Finding all the stars, however, would be no easy task. Enemies now lurked all over the kingdom because of Bowser, posing as a threat to any travelers. Toadsworth explained that Luigi needed to learn to use new attacks in order to travel farther and collect each Battle Star. The stars were also very well hidden across the kingdom and Luigi would need to search high and low for all of them. He understood what he had to do fully, but was still unsure of some things.

“I understand. Where do I find these stars?” Luigi asked.

“Nobody knows exactly where they are,” Toadsworth continued. “Only one with a brave mind will be able to seek them out.” Upon hearing that, Luigi hung his head in shame and began to lose his confidence. Toadsworth asked him what was the matter.

“I’ve only been known to act cowardly…” Luigi recalled.

“Well, that may be,” Toadsworth replied. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t become brave. I know you can do this, Luigi. You need to have faith in yourself.” Luigi smiled when he heard what Toadsworth said.

“Then I will,” he said. “And you’re absolutely right. I have to do this for everyone. I won’t listen to what Bowser said about me being a coward. I can prove him wrong.” Luigi put a serious look on his face and held a confident fist up.

“That’s the spirit,” Toadsworth praised. “I suggest you head west first. I caught a glimpse of Bowser taking Toad and Toadette that way.”

“Alright, then that’s-a where I’ll go,” Luigi replied. He bid farewell to Toadsworth and dashed out of the castle, now feeling much more confident.

Upon leaving the castle, Luigi started for the western paths. As he approached the edge of town again, he said good bye to the Toads and headed off for his big adventure, having more confidence flowing through his body than he ever had before. Luigi carried on down the path out of town, thinking of Mario and his friends, and how they were coping. He also wondered what Bowser was planning to do to them. However, Luigi’s thinking kept being interrupted by the numerous Goombas, Koopas, and Pirahnas that flooded the path. Despite the fact that it seemed like for every monster that was defeated by Luigi, a new one would soon show up in its place, the determined plumber carried on, never to stop.

Sometime later, Luigi’s traveling came to a halt at a fork in the path. The two paths branching out from the main one led in two different directions, one heading slightly northwest while the other heading west. The path going west was crossed by a wide, rapid looking creek, however the bridge going over it was torn apart. A Toad was standing in front of it, seemingly getting ready to repair it. Luigi walked up to him, curious as to what caused this scene. He thought that that path was the one he needed to take next.

“Hey, what happened here?” Luigi asked. “I need to get to the other side of the creek.”

“Oh well—Hey, you’re Luigi, aren’t you?” the Toad said, taking note of the L on Luigi’s hat. Luigi nodded with a smile.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I take it you know my brother.”

“Yep! Good ol’ Mario is always around when there’s trouble,” the Toad confirmed. “What brings you way out here?” Luigi looked around before answering to make sure there weren’t any monsters present. There were none to be found.

“Well, I came out here to head for the canyon,” Luigi explained. “But the bridge here is out and the creek looks-a too rapid to swim across.” The Toad glanced at the broken bridge for a couple seconds.

“Oh yeah, some good for nothing monsters broke it,” he said. “I came out here to repair it and then all these other monsters showed up. I’m afraid I won’t finish fixing this bridge for a good while.”

“Oh…well is-a there any other way I could get over there?” Luigi asked.

“Yeah, that other path is a detour by the edge of the woods up north a bit. It’s a longer trip, but also the only other way.” Luigi thanked the Toad and immediately started down the other path.

Down this path lay different enemies than before. As he went on, Luigi encountered forest enemies such as caterpillars in addition to the usual Goombas and Chain Chomps. He eventually passed by the forest and arrived at another fork in the path. This time he was able to take the one leading directly west and continued on, thinking about how the repairer Toad knew of him via Mario. It seemed like anyone who knew Luigi’s brother at least knew of Luigi himself, but not nearly as many knew Luigi personally. This sparked an annoyed feeling inside Luigi’s mind for a little while, but he soon forgot when he decided he needed to keep his focus on finding Battle Stars.

After traveling for another ten to fifteen minutes, Luigi spotted the canyon up ahead. It was wide and long, going for as far as the eye can see. Just as he had gotten through dealing with a group of Goombas, Luigi thought he heard a plea for help. Thinking it was just his imagination, he carried on. Suddenly, he heard the plea again, confirming that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. He immediately started in the direction of the cry for help, thinking it might be Toad or Toadette in trouble.

The cry got louder as Luigi headed a bit northwest again and eventually led him to an oversized Chain Chomp blocking the way down into the canyon. It was asleep in the dirt, unaware of Luigi’s presence. Its chain was hooked to a stub stuck in the ground near the canyon’s edge. Luigi tip toed around the fearsome creature and found none other than Toad and Toadette trapped inside a wooden cage. The two jumped with glee when they saw Luigi coming towards them.

“Luigi!” Toad gasped. “Please, help!” Luigi put a finger to his mouth.

“Shhh!” he scolded. “I’ll get you two out of here. Just keep quiet before that pile of teeth wakes up!”

“Okay, but hurry!” Toadette said quietly. Luigi nodded and scrutinized the cage for a way to open it without making any noise. However, he wasn’t paying enough attention to where he was walking and accidentally kicked a rock in the dirt. The Chain Chomp woke at the spot and soon focused its gaze on Luigi’s figure standing by the wooden cage. It went straight for him immediately with anger boiling up inside. Luigi, being a slightly better jumper than Mario, leaped out of the way and jumped on top of the creature. As quickly as Luigi had landed on top of it, the creature suddenly started jumping around in anger as if it were an angry bronco.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Luigi hollered. He then noticed that as the Chain Chomp was jumping around, the chain was coming loose, and it gave him an idea. Luigi jumped off the creature and grabbed a Koopa shell that was lying around on the path. He dodged the Chain Chomp and when he got close enough to the chain, he tossed it at the stub holding it down. It came even looser upon impact. Luigi then threw more things at the stub and eventually it broke from the ground. The Chain Chomp started chasing him once it was free, but that didn’t stop him. Luigi lured it to the edge of the canyon and let it leap down into it. He watched it fall to the ground below and sat down, feeling exhausted.

“Wow,” Luigi said. “I almost can’t believe I got rid of that thing.”

“Luigi!” Toad called.

“Hang on!” Luigi replied. He dashed up to the wooden cage and decided to break it. Luigi then said, “Stand back!” and kicked it open. Toad and Toadette rushed out into freedom.

“Oh thank you, Luigi!” Toadette exclaimed. “I thought that thing was going to eat us!”

“Yeah,” Toad added. “I suppose Toadsworth told you everything?” Luigi nodded.

“He did,” he replied. “I know-a what I have to do now and it definitely won’t-a be easy, just like he said.” Toad jumped once and smiled.

“Good,” he said. “Keep going into the canyon. One of those Battle Stars might be there.”

“Of course,” Luigi agreed. He bid farewell to the two Toads, who started back for Toad Town, and started down the newly unblocked stairway down into the deep canyon, having high hopes that he would find his first Battle Star there.

Still nothing, eh? I waited a day, but oh well, I'll continue.


Chapter 4: Enlisting Daisy’s Help

By the time Luigi reached the bottom of the deep, rocky canyon, his feet had become uncomfortably painful from the walking. He sat down on a rock nearby for yet again another rest, wondering if Mario ever had this problem. Luigi wasn’t sitting for more than a few seconds before he saw the giant Chain Chomp from the cliff lying right near him in the dirt. Stunned, Luigi couldn’t tell whether it was dead or simply unconscious. However, it was completely blocking one direction of the canyon, so Luigi quietly got up and tip toed in the other direction, running away when he was far enough to do so without waking the creature. Dealing with the Chain Chomp again was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment.

Luigi slowed down once he was a good distance away from where he entered the canyon. He came to a halt and plopped down in the dirt. It felt much better to be off his feet for a few minutes once again. Luigi glanced down the canyon and then at his feet, thinking of his captured brother again.

“Mario must have feet like rock if they don’t-a ever hurt like this,” he said to himself.

Suddenly, the weather began to get windy, and Luigi was pushed over. He tried to keep his balance, but wound up getting blown into the dirt. Enemies passing by attempted to attack Luigi, but he simply punched them away and tossed things at them. Hammer Bros, Boomerang Bros, and various other enemies were scattered about the area. Just as Luigi got up from being blown a little further, he thought he saw a bigger monster and what appeared to be the figure of a person in the distance.

As he squinted his eyes to look again, Luigi noticed he really did see a monster and a person and went to investigate. As he drew nearer and nearer to the two figures, he made out details. A blue-eyed, brunette girl wearing a yellow and orange dress was dashing about trying to deal with a giant, flat backed bug. From the flower crown sitting upon the girl’s head, Luigi assumed she was a princess, but she didn’t appear to have any relation to Peach whatsoever. He ran up to help her regardless, thinking how a princess could possibly defeat the bug by herself and why she was even there in the first place.

“Hey! Where’d you come from?” the girl called when she saw Luigi attempt to punch the bug. Before he could answer, Luigi was whacked against the canyon wall by one of the bug’s back legs. He descended to the ground below, feeling a pain in his back from the impact.

“Augggh…Atop the canyon…” Luigi finally replied as he scrambled to his feet. “What’s a princess doing in a place like this? And trying to battle a giant bug no less?” The girl ran out of the way as the bug tried to ram into her.

“Trying to get it out of my way so I can get to Toad Town,” she explained. “If you’re gonna help, you’re not gonna defeat this guy by punching it. I think you’ve got to stomp really hard on its back. Like this!” The girl then jumped as high as she could and then stomped the ground really hard with her feet.

“I see,” Luigi understood.

“What I don’t know is how to reach up there,” the girl stated. Luigi looked around as he and the girl kept dodging the bug’s repeated ramming. He eyed the walls and then smiled.

“I’ve got an idea,” Luigi said. “Follow my lead.” He then raced to the wall and jumped off it into the air. The girl immediately repeated Luigi’s maneuvers and soon both were airborne over the bug’s back. Then the two did the stomp at the same time, destroying the bug at an instant. The girl jumped with glee.

“We did it!” she exclaimed. “That takes care of that!”

“That’s-a good,” Luigi said. “If my back is-a hit one more time, I swear I’ll be sore for a month.” The girl laughed at Luigi’s remark. She seemed to have already taking a liking to him. When she saw the L on Luigi’s hat and noted his appearance, she fell silent for a few seconds.

“Hey wait a minute…Luigi!” she guessed. Luigi’s eyebrows rose with surprise.

“How do you know who I am?” he asked, confused. The girl smiled and brought her hands to her hips.

“Your brother, of course,” she replied. “I’m Daisy, princess of Sarasaland. Mario has told me about you.” Daisy went on to explain how Mario once saved her from a villain who tried to take over her kingdom by kidnapping her and attempting to get her to marry him. It had been awhile since Daisy had last seen Mario and Peach and now she was making a surprise visit to them because they had become good friends.

Luigi said nothing for a moment or two. He knew Mario had been outside Mushroom Kingdom before, but not to a completely different kingdom altogether. Curiosity struck Luigi as to why Mario never mentioned the trip to him at all. Then he remembered that Daisy had no knowledge of Bowser’s attack yet and decided it would be best to explain it to her before she got too carried away with her surprise visit plans, though Luigi knew she wouldn’t be happy about it.

“I see,” Luigi said. “But, well…about this visit of yours…”

“Yeah?”

“It’s…going to have to wait.”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“Well…see, Mario…he and Peach have been kidnapped, along with another friend of ours,” Luigi reluctantly explained. He told Daisy of the events in Toad Town and of Bowser’s plot to destroy Mario. Daisy’s expression changed to a very worried one at hearing this news, but she lightened up a bit when Luigi said he was going to save his brother and the others. She brought her hands to her hips again and smiled.

“Well, that’s certainly brave of you!” Daisy said. “And I guess this attack you’re telling me about explains the monsters that I’ve been running into?” Luigi nodded and then told Daisy of his quest to find the six Battle Stars and their powers. He told her everything Toadsworth had explained to him back in Toad Town in hopes that maybe she had a possible clue. Daisy understood completely and seemed to have an idea of her own when she smiled and looked Luigi in the eye.

Suddenly, just as Daisy was about to say something, a blast of dirt flew over their heads and the sound of a crash was heard nearby. Luigi looked up to find the giant Chain Chomp had come back. Now it looked angrier than ever, showing its sharp white teeth. Luigi and Daisy just stood there, not moving at all. Daisy glanced at the Chain Chomp and then at Luigi.

“Don’t move a muscle,” Luigi said quietly and slowly. Suddenly, the creature lunged towards them at blinding speed. Luigi gasped and pulled Daisy out of the way with him. The two landed in the dirt beside the Chain Chomp, coughing from the kicked up dust and dirt.

“Oh yeah, got any more bright ideas, genius?” Daisy asked in a sarcastic voice.

“Yeah, RUN!” Luigi yelled. The two then sped down the canyon as fast as their legs could carry them. Daisy glanced back several times to see if the Chain Chomp was following them while Luigi was trying to come up with yet another way to this time get rid of the creature for good. He smiled when he saw the Chain Chomp almost run into the canyon wall. Luigi turned to Daisy and motioned her to follow him. Wondering what exactly he was up to, Daisy decided to play along and see what was going to happen.

All three of them kept going down the canyon, Luigi and Daisy letting the Chain Chomp run smack into the canyon walls whenever they could. Suddenly, Luigi found himself and Daisy cornered at the wall themselves, but the creature didn’t lunge for them this time. Instead it simply stood there, its white teeth showing madly. Luigi then remembered what he had done on the top of the cliff before and suddenly jumped to the wall. Daisy watched him and gasped at the sight before her, thinking what could he possibly be doing now?

“Luigi! Are you crazy?!” she asked, but Luigi didn’t reply. Instead, he leaped off the wall and landed bottom first on top of the Chain Chomp once again, making clear to Daisy what his plan was.

However, just minutes after Luigi had gotten up there, the Chain Chomp wasn’t looking where it was going and rammed head first into a rockier portion of the canyon. Rocks started flying every where, and Daisy’s eyes widened when she saw one heading straight for Luigi.

“LOOK OUT!” she shouted as Luigi turned around. He immediately dove off the Chain Chomp and landed safely nearby. The rocks were so big and fell so hard that they crushed the monstrous creature and destroyed it. Luigi and Daisy stood there, mouths hanging open, when they saw an opening to a cave was revealed behind the rocks. They exchanged surprised glances before saying anything. Luigi rejoined Daisy after the whole commotion stopped and things grew quiet once more.

“Whoa…do you see what I see?” he asked, still surprised.

“Yeah…” Daisy replied. “Perhaps one of those stars you’re looking for is in there.” Luigi faced the cave and looked at what he could see of its inside. It was dark, quiet, and possibly eerie as well. It looked as frightening as anything else Luigi had been known to fear, but he would and could not let it scare him this time. He had to go explore the newly opened cave, he knew and instead, he bravely walked up to the entrance and then came to a halt to look back once more at Daisy.

“Perhaps there is,” Luigi said. “I’m going to check it out.” Daisy rushed beside him before he could enter.

“Wait…Luigi,” she said. “I think I can be of some help on your quest. I’m heading to Toad Town. If I find out anything that can help you out, I’ll be sure to let you know.” Luigi smiled at Daisy’s offer.

“Thanks,” he replied. “Right now I need all the help I can get. I’ll head back once I finish here.” Daisy nodded and returned the smile.

“See you later then!” she exclaimed. Luigi watched Daisy race away to the canyon stairs and disappear in the distance. He smiled a confident smile as he stood there.

Luigi turned back to face the cave and started to walk inside. Fearlessly, he disappeared into the darkness seconds later, nothing but courage running through his mind. Just thinking about courage and bravery only made the plumber feel even more so like being as bold as he could be. Luigi would prove Bowser’s comment about cowardice wrong no matter what it took, and become the hero that the Toads and his friends needed him to be. In fact, you could almost hear Luigi mumble as he went inside, “This is-a for you and the others, Bro…”



And this chapter is where Daisy comes in. :3 She's Luigi's most important ally in this adventure.

Come on, still not a single feedback post? D: Eh, at least the view count seems to say people are reading this. Here's the next chapter.


Chapter 5: The A-maze-ing Cave

Luigi found himself in a long, dimly lit chamber as he walked deeper into the newly-opened cave. The only light present was the few torches seen along the walls, barely enough for Luigi to see his way through the long, first tunnel. Regardless, he kept going in hopes of locating the first Battle Star, wondering what kind of enemies he’d be facing this time. Right now, it seemed none were present anywhere, or so it looked like from Luigi’s view. He carried on, curious about the entire cave and whether or not the first star would be somewhere inside.

Suddenly, without warning, a boomerang appeared flying straight in Luigi’s path, causing him to snap out of his thinking and duck so quickly, he fell over backwards.

“Augh!” Luigi exclaimed as he hit the ground back first. He sat up and shook his head, only to find a Boomerang Bro standing before him, blocking his way forward. The creature attempted to hit Luigi again, but missed as the quick plumber jumped out of the way. Before it could toss another boomerang, however, Luigi had already given it a good knuckle sandwich.

After awhile, the cave seemed to grow very quiet, and the path twisted and turned, like the movements of a traveling snake. The tunnel finally came to an end at a rather large intersection of three different paths. This next room was huge in size and full of rocky walls in addition to more snake-like paths. It didn’t take long for Luigi to figure out he was standing in a giant maze. He simply stood there upon realization, not sure if it should be a shock or not. However, now knowing that he had no choice but to use his smarts to find the correct paths, Luigi entered one of the few available, thinking that no matter how intelligent he was, he would probably wind up at some dead ends anyway.

Luigi didn’t know how right he thought. Just minutes after he first entered the maze, he ran right into the first dead end. And standing there in front of the dead end wall was a Hammer Bro. Luigi stood there with anger boiling in his mind and got ready to fight, remembering the bad experiences he’s had with these creatures in the past, such as actually getting captured by some of them with Mario once. Once the Hammer Bro spotted Luigi, he immediately started throwing hammers in his path. Luigi himself leaped up and jumped sideways to avoid them, landed on the creature’s head after one hammer just barely missed his own, and squashed it with a ground pound.

“This is-a too easy,” Luigi remarked, bringing his hands to his hips. “Getting through here ought to be a piece of cake.”

It wouldn’t be as easy as Luigi thought for very long. This portion of maze wasn’t very large in size, and once Luigi reached the exit, he halted in his tracks to find a rabble of Dry Bones guarding the path ahead. Both Luigi and Mario encountered these creatures many times during their adventures, but never found a way to defeat them for good. Once their bones broke up, they always managed to pull themselves back together. It often annoyed the two brothers whenever they had to deal with them over and over. Now, however, all Luigi had to do was break some of them apart and then make his escape down the next tunnel.

After he’d done exactly that, Luigi sped down the winding tunnel ahead and arrived at the next portion of the maze. Five different paths now stood before the nervous plumber as he assumed this portion was much larger and complicated than the previous. Luigi stood there for a minute or two, wondering how much farther he would have to go before the whole cave would end.

“Mama mia…” Luigi said. “Will this-a ever end?”

Even though he was a bit reluctant to do it, Luigi picked a path and started into the maze. As before, he quickly began to run into dead ends, because there was technically no way for Luigi to figure out which paths were correct without merely guessing. At each dead end, he ran into either a Hammer Bro or a Boomerang Bro and gradually began to get annoyed at them just about as much as Luigi did the Dry Bones. Gradually, he got used to seeing these enemies at each dead end he ran into and simply cared less that they were there at all.

However, just as Luigi had gotten half way through, a new set of enemies appeared that he hadn’t seen since Bowser first appeared in Toad Town: Bob-ombs. Koopas and Goombas were chucking them at Luigi in every dead end in the second half, and Luigi himself was being forced to dodge them constantly. One almost hit him in the rear as he thought he saw the last one.

“Mama miaaaaa!” Luigi nervously hollered as he barely dodged the tossed Bob-omb.

He continued on and was now heading for the next exit, eager to get away before anymore enemies gave him trouble. Right when he reached the exit, Luigi found himself caught in another enemy fight. A Koopa blocked the exit, holding a bigger Bob-omb, but much smaller than the one Bowser had used to blast Luigi off into the sky. Luigi’s eyes widened as his mouth fell open at the sight of the creature and its weapon, but didn’t want to let himself get blown away for a second time.

The Koopa laughed hysterically before chucking the Bob-omb at its target. Luigi almost rolled his eyes at it, but didn’t get a chance when the Koopa did chuck its weapon. He side-jumped to dodge it and then attempted to jump on the Koopa’s head. However, before Luigi could land, it already pulled out another Bob-omb. Luigi couldn’t stop and landed right on top of the explosive creature. It blew up right on his bottom and sent him fleeing.

“AHHHHH!” Luigi screamed as he ran around in circles clutching his burning rear end. “YOWOWOWOW!”

Once Luigi was done hollering some more, the Koopa attempted another Bob-omb throw. This time. Luigi attempted to jump on its head and dodge the Bob-omb at the same time. He just barely hit the Koopa before it could ready another one and knocked it inside its shell. Luigi tossed the shell into the wall and continued out of the maze into the next tunnel, which turned out not to be a tunnel at all. Instead it was a winding rock staircase leading to an upper level.

The staircase was dark and contained even dimmer light than the tunnels had. It was also even more snake-like and had a spooky feel to it, though Luigi didn’t care. He was nothing but brave the whole way and never halted. At the top of the stairs, however, Luigi stopped dead in his tracks. Before him were two more staircases, both bearing the same appearance as the one he’d just come up. Luigi had a hunch that he was in yet another portion of maze, but this time around, it was a different kind.

Instead of choosing a path in a maze of paths, now it was choosing a staircase in a maze of staircases. However, despite there being fewer choices of ways to go, Luigi found it more difficult to find his way out this time due to dead ends not being as obvious. He could choose one staircase, and then the next two both could lead to dead ends. Knowing he had to be careful about his choices, Luigi decided to take the most logical ones possible. In addition, each dead end had some kind of enemy waiting to attack, be it a Bob-omb wielding Koopa or Goomba, rabbles of Dry Bones, or even Bob-ombs by themselves.

About three fourths of the way up, the staircases seemed to get shorter. Thinking he was getting close to the top of the canyon, Luigi went on, hoping he’d find the first Battle Star before he left. He moved faster than ever to get out, though it seemed almost impossible from the number of dead ends turning up. It didn’t stop Luigi, however, as he was more determined than ever to succeed in locating the star for his captured brother and friends. The thought of success began to make his heart pound with excitement as he raced to get out of the cave, and Luigi could just see the smile on Mario’s face.

After running up a few more staircases and dealing with several more dead ends, Luigi could just spot sunlight at the top of the staircase to his left. He happily ran up the short staircase into the light of day, his heart pounding louder than ever. However, Luigi completely forgot he still had found no Battle Stars, and once he was outside on the rocky, hard ground of the canyon edge opposite of where he first came down, he realized he was empty handed. Luigi just stood there, clueless about what to do or where to go next.

“I sure am glad to be out of there, but now I feel lost…” he said as he started walking.

He would have decided to walk down the canyon some of the way, but Luigi found himself surrounded by trees in front of a hidden stone cavern entrance somewhat in the distance. The stone was square shaped and very ancient-looking. Luigi slowly walked towards it, thinking the star had to be there, or something else was. No cavern like that was there for nothing, and he knew it all too well. Suddenly, the ground shook intensely below Luigi’s feet and caused him to fall over.

Before he could get up, a giant skeleton snake emerged from underground and shot itself into the air. Its bones knocked loudly against each other and made and impact so great when landing, that the ground shook even more than before. Luigi wanted to run past it and into the cavern, but rocks caused to fly from the ground now blocked the entrance. He had no choice but to fight the fearsome snake if he wanted to continue. Luigi stood brave and firm, clenching his fists together and got ready for an intense battle.

The snake, whose name was Bonetail, immediately lunged for Luigi and attempted to strike him with his bony tail. Luigi, however, was too quick for the fearsome creature and jumped out of the way. Bonetail suddenly turned around and lunged again, this time snapping at Luigi with his jaws. Luigi, who was trying to figure out how to attack, dodged yet again. Just as Luigi thought he had an idea, to his surprise, Bonetail started flinging his own bones at him. In fact, Luigi was so surprised, that he knocked the bones right back without realizing, which smacked right into the angry, bony snake.

“Aha,” Luigi said as he dodged Bonetail’s tail once more. He waited for the fearsome snake to fling the bones again.

The battle went on for another twenty minutes as Luigi kept knocking back Bonetail’s bones. However, Bonetail suddenly grew smarter and stopped flinging them after that time went by. Instead, he kept lunging at Luigi with those jaws of his. Luigi, frantically wondering what to do now, leaped out of the way and let the creature crash to the ground. He suddenly glanced at the rocks blocking the entrance to the cavern and came up with an idea. Luigi quickly scrambled in front of them and turned to face Bonetail.

“Hey! I’m over here, you overgrown bag of bones!” Luigi shouted. That made Bonetail angry. He slithered as fast as he could and lunged for Luigi again. Luigi jumped out of the way once more, letting Bonetail crash into the rock. He smiled when he saw the rock start to crack. A few more hits and it should break.

Luigi lured Bonetail into the rock again and watched it crack even more. He smiled to himself so long while doing so that he nearly wanted to praise himself for always being smarter than his brother. He had reason to think so, as Luigi came up with most of the ideas during his and Mario’s travels. Luigi continued smiling as Bonetail crashed into the rock a third time. It was just about ready to break. Luigi kept pressuring the creature to lung at him again until he would attempt to strike.

“Yahoo!” he shouted with a smile as he was jumping again. Bonetail had crashed into the rock for the last time. It broke into giant pieces and Bonetail collapsed to the ground in a pile of bones. Luigi ducked for cover as some of them started flying in his direction. He smiled and brushed his hands together once the area had grown quiet.

“That takes care of that,” Luigi said. He turned around and raced into the little cavern.

Inside, the room was small. It was a single chamber, lit by four torches, two of them on the wall straight ahead in front of Luigi. Below them, on a metal supporter sitting on an altar, sat the first Battle Star. The light of the burning torches reflected brightly off of its shiny green surface. Luigi smiled to himself as he slowly walked up to the star and picked it up from the supporter. He looked at the bright green star and was happy of his success. He recalled what Toadsworth had told him back in Toad Town. Only one with a brave mind can seek them out. It meant Luigi was indeed brave and brave enough to find all of the stars.

“Luigi,” a female voice suddenly said behind him. Luigi turned around to find Rosalina, the one who was in charge of an observatory in space, standing there in front of the cavern’s entrance. Her light blue dress was long enough to hide her feet while a silver crown sat upon her head. Her blonde hair covered one of her eyes and a silver wand was held in her right hand.

“Rosalina?” Luigi said in a surprised tone. “What brings you here? I thought the observatory only came by here every hundred years.” Rosalina simply gave him a smile.

“Indeed it does,” she said. “But not only do I watch over the observatory and the Lumas, but I watch over these Battle Stars as well, such as the one you hold in your hands.”

Rosalina went on to explain that even though the Battle Stars were power stars, they were made for a different reason than the ones used to power her observatory. These stars were awaiting a hero worthy of their power to find them and use their to bring peace to the land. When Luigi touched the star he held in his hands, that could only mean it had chosen him as its master. If this were true, Luigi was the only one able to command the power of all six. Rosalina had sensed this from the observatory as it was traveling that day, and had come to investigate only to discover that Bowser had struck once more. She went on to explain that Bowser had somehow gotten his hands on the Grand Battle Star, the most powerful star in existence, and used its power for his own evil doing.

“I…the star chose me?” Luigi wondered, a feeling of shock flowing through his body. “But this…it sounds more like something for Mario.”

“Yes, it does,” Rosalina agreed. “But, the reason Mario is not quite worthy enough may be found in your history.”

“Our history? Well, if you say so,” Luigi replied. “But what-a could Bowser want with such power? I always thought he only wanted Peach…”

“Bowser kidnapped Mario and your friends,” Rosalina said. “I believe he wishes to use the power of the Grand Battle Star to destroy them all.” Luigi nodded and remembered Bowser’s attack on Toad Town.

“…W-what?! Even Yoshi?!” he exclaimed. “But…he only has a grudge against-a Mario and possibly me. This is more serious than I thought."

“Then you know what you must do,” Rosalina replied. “If Bowser were to find out this moment what he could do with the power of that Grand Battle Star, it would be devastating. You must get it back before he discovers that.”

“Then that’s-a what I’ll do.”

“I also understand that you’re looking for all six of the Battle Stars so you can match up to the power of the Grand Battle Star,” Rosalina continued. “But those stars alone cannot defeat its power.” Luigi’s eyebrows rose at hearing that statement.

“Then what can?” he asked. Rosalina smiled again.

“Look deep inside your heart during that battle,” she said. “Then you’ll know. Command the power of the Battle Stars well and save everyone.” Luigi nodded with a smile and held up a confident fist.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone down!” he promised.

“May the power be with you,” Rosalina replied. She then vanished into thin air, returning back to her observatory.

Luigi stood there and gazed at the star he held for a few minutes before leaving. He smiled to himself and now knew he had an even bigger mission than ever to accomplish. However, just as he was about to leave, Luigi noticed a piece of paper was lying on the ground where Rosalina was. He picked it up and noticed it was a list of all the locations of each Battle Star. One was deep in the forest, another was on a high mountain, another lies deep in the sea, one was buried in a vast canyon, one was hidden on an island, and the other lies in the moist swamp. Luigi looked it over and stuck it in his pocket. Although he also wondered what exactly Rosalina meant by the reason Mario wasn’t worthy of the Battle Stars’ power lying within the brothers’ history, Luigi knew he had to focus more on reaching the other five stars. He walked out of the cavern with a confident smile on his face, now in the possession of one of the stars.


Why did the Battle Stars choose Luigi and not Mario? We'll find out soon enough...

Here's the new chapter 6! Now we'll find out even more important information about Luigi's quest that adds on to what Rosalina said (she'll return in a later chapter too, btw). ;D


Chapter 6: Luigi Gets Jealous

Outside the cavern, Luigi walked back to the edge of the canyon. He wasn’t sure how to get back to the other side without having to go through the maze cave again. Luigi simply started walking down the canyon towards where he’d first come in, hoping to find a way across. He hadn’t walked for long, though, when he suddenly noticed his hands glowing brightly and felt the urge to punch something. He raced over to a nearby rock and gave it a good jab. His eyes widened at what he’d done. His hand had not only grown in size during the punch, but the impact of the punch was so great, it broke the rock into pieces.

“Wow, even with one star, that is some power!” Luigi exclaimed. “I’ll have to practice this super punch.” He’d learned yet another move to use in battle. He knew that Super Punch would prove useful on tougher enemies later on.

Luigi continued to walk on, but didn’t go much further when he spotted a small figure in the distance, one that appeared to be a Toad. Luigi kept moving closer to it and saw it was the repairer Toad he’d met earlier on the path going by the other side of the canyon. He was waving his arms in the air and standing in the middle of a new-looking rope bridge. Luigi raced up to him and started across it, wondering what the Toad had to tell him now.

“Hey, Luigi!” the Toad said as he and Luigi finished crossing the bridge. “I’ve got to talk to ya. First off, I and some other repairer Toads built this bridge to make it easier for you to get back to town.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot,” Luigi replied, scratching the back of his head. “I needed that. I’d have gone crazy if I had to go back the way I came!”

“I bet,” the Toad agreed. “Oh, another thing, the mail Toad asked me to give this to ya since I’d seen you earlier. It’s a letter.” Luigi took the letter and ripped it open. It was from Daisy, who was apparently watching over the town. Luigi read it over carefully.

Luigi,

Hey, I found out some juicy information for you! Meet me back at the castle and we’ll talk it over. I’ve been keeping an eye on things around here for Peach, so don’t worry about what’s been going on while you’ve been gone. Believe me, I don’t mess around. Well, I’ll be seeing you soon!

Daisy

Luigi thanked the Toad and stuck the letter in his pocket with the list of Battle Star locations to save for later.

“Well, I guess I’ll head back to town now,” he said. “Thanks again.” Luigi waved good bye to the repairer Toad and headed back to the path past the area where he first rescued Toad and Toadette. He wondered what Daisy had to say to him and what she found out.

Along the way, Luigi practiced using his new Super Punch move on the local enemies. The move proved to be a good deal stronger than his normal punches, but it still wasn’t an extremely strong move overall. Luigi knew it would grow more powerful as he collected more stars, and couldn’t wait to see what stronger forms he could use later on. Not only did his moves already feel a bit stronger when he pounded the ground or threw something, but Luigi felt physically stronger overall. He may have even already matched Mario’s strength with the star power.

All that practice eventually wore Luigi out by the time he spotted Toad Town in the distance. He slowed his pace down as he continued on, deciding to take a little break before he went after the next star. Luigi entered Toad Town and walked along the path, greeting the Toads as he went. Toadsworth was out there as well, and asked Luigi if he had any luck. Luigi told him of his experience in the canyon and how he found the first star there.

“Well, bravo!” Toadsworth complimented. “I knew you could do it. Just keep it up and you’ll be ready to fight Bowser in no time.”

“Oh, I will,” Luigi assured him. He carried on up the path and to the castle where Daisy was waiting for him. Luigi opened the door and went inside, looking around for Daisy immediately. He spotted her at the other end of the room by the window and walked up to her. She turned around and greeted Luigi.

“Hey, I got your letter,” Luigi told her. “You have something to tell me?”

“Yeah, I found out something big,” Daisy said. “Bowser Jr. was here earlier and he said something about Bowser using some ultra power to destroy Mario and take over Mushroom Kingdom. They’re somehow preparing that power now as we speak!” Luigi’s eyebrows rose.

“Mama mia,” he said in a rather surprised tone. “Bowser has-a always tried to take over Mushroom Kingdom before, but I think he’s outdone himself this-a time.” Luigi then explained what he’d found out about Bowser’s newfound power from Rosalina. Daisy couldn’t believe her own ears when she’d heard what Bowser was potentially capable of doing.

“Oh my,” she said. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full with this whole thing. And usually Mario’s the one in these situations.” Luigi halted at hearing Daisy’s words. Mario was usually the one doing the adventure work and tracking down Bowser. Just thinking about it made anger build up in Luigi’s mind. He couldn’t help but clench his fists together again and let thoughts of his brother’s attention take over with his anger. Luigi realized that now he was finally getting his own, real chance to be a hero and defeat Bowser himself, not be stuck as the side kick or helper in Mario’s shadow.

“You know what? You’re right!” Luigi exclaimed as he turned around. “Mario has done all this in the past! He always took all the credit for it too!”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You don’t understand, Daisy,” Luigi went on. “Practically all our lives, it’s-a always been about Mario. It’s-a Mario this, Mario that! And I never get any attention for myself!”

“Really?” Daisy asked. “Didn’t Mario tell me of a time you saved him in a haunted mansion?” Luigi then recalled the events at the haunted mansion where Mario had been trapped once.

“That was one time, Daisy,” he replied. “Even then I never got much attention and after that, it was-a back to Mario’s shadow I went. It was like it never even happened!”

“What?”

“Yeah. Look, I may sound like I’m complaining, but I’ve reason to be. I’ve helped Mario a lot in the past and I hardly ever even got so much as a thank you,” Luigi continued. “Like I said, I never get any real attention for myself because of my glory hog of a brother. From the way he’s-a been treating me, I ought to just leave him out there.” He turned his back and folded his arms. Daisy brought her hands to her hips.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” Daisy scolded. “Just talk to him and tell him you’ve been feeling this way.” Luigi didn’t turn around.

“Hmph. I’ll talk to him alright,” he assured. “I won’t leave him out there. That won’t solve anything right. Instead, I’ll make sure I get this through to his glory infested head. I won’t take it anymore.”

“Well, alright,” Daisy agreed. “Or maybe Mario will realize it on his own out there.”

“Ha, that’ll be the day pigs fly.”

Before the two could say anymore, the castle doors suddenly barged open. Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth were all hurrying across the room. Luigi guessed more trouble was brewing from the worried expressions on their faces, and wondered what was happening now. Daisy simply stood there and was seemingly wondering the same thing.

“Luigi, Princess Daisy!” Toadsworth exclaimed as he came to a stop, followed by Toad and Toadette. “Thank goodness you two are still in here. Something serious is going on in the forest!”

“What’s happened?” Luigi asked. He was beginning to worry himself.

“Ghosts have taken it over!” Toad explained. “The repairer Toad you met at the canyon said he spotted some on his way back.”

“Yeah, he seemed awfully scared,” Toadette added. “Can’t you do something Luigi? Bowser must have sent those ghosts there.” Luigi thought for a moment before answering. He didn’t think Bowser was behind this one.

“I don’t think Bowser is to blame this time,” Luigi replied. “I have a hunch who’s-a really behind this.”

“Really? Who else could have done it?” Toad asked.

“No time to explain,” Luigi said. “I’ve got to run to my house for something.”

Before anybody else could say anything more to him, Luigi headed outside and ran for his and Mario’s house on the outskirts of town. It was a small, cozy place to live, and had a good view of the castle. That way, both brothers could see if anything was going on from right at home. Luigi threw open the front door and halted for a few minutes, hoping his hunch about what was going on was correct.

When he was finished, Luigi walked up to the closet in the bedroom and opened the door. There in the corner sat his Poltergust 3000, a vacuum for sucking up ghosts. Luigi had gotten it from an old friend of his, Professor Elvin Gadd, who liked studying and capturing ghosts. Luigi’s vacuum was only one of the number of Poltergusts E. Gadd made. He grabbed it from its resting place, brushed the dust off of it and equipped it on his back, ready to use.

“It’s-a time to put this thing to use again,” Luigi confidently said. He ran back to the front door and left the house, thinking of what the ghosts would be like this time around.

Back in the haunted mansion, they weren’t too much trouble to deal with, but now, who knows what Luigi may be up against. He might even run into Professor E. Gadd himself while being out there and get some help from him again. Whatever the case, Luigi would not let himself be scared this time. Ghosts were once his biggest fear, but now it’s in the past. A much braver Luigi was headed for the forest this time.

Luigi raced back through town, and headed back towards the west to find the path to the now haunted forest. Recalling that there was also a Battle Star hidden there, he figured the ghosts wouldn’t have a clue of its existence. Just as Luigi was about to leave town, however, Daisy caught him before he could go any further. He turned around when he heard her call out his name. Daisy’s brow rose when she saw the Poltergust on Luigi’s back.

“Is that what you had to go to your place for?” she asked.

“Yeah. I used this to suck up ghosts in that haunted mansion,” Luigi explained. “I did it once, I can do it again.” Daisy brought her hands to her hips. She seemed to think using a vacuum sounded ridiculous, but clever at the same time.

“Well, you certainly seem to know what you’re doing,” Daisy replied. “Good luck out there.”

“Thanks.”

After Daisy left for the castle again, Luigi continued on his way up towards the forest. He was still thinking about the conversation he’d had with her in the castle and wouldn’t stand being left in Mario’s shadow any longer. He would talk to Mario and make him realize it no matter what it took to do it. Luigi knew he needed to have the attention he for so long deserved and would get it no matter what once he took care of Bowser.

“It won’t be just about you anymore, Mario…” Luigi mumbled to himself as he went.

While he was thinking, Luigi suddenly halted in his tracks, an important new thought coming to his mind. Wait a minute…could what Daisy and I were discussing be what Rosalina was talking about back in the maze cave? Luigi wondered. Yes! It has to be! It all makes sense now! Mario never let me have any credit or attention, so I’ve been stuck in his shadow all my life. These Battle Stars chose me because Mario has been such a glory hog that my full power and potential had never had a chance to be shown, nor has my true amount of bravery and courage as well as my strong will. The stars chose me to take me out of my brother’s shadow and bring me and my now-awakening power into the light! Upon realizing this, Luigi pressed on with more confidence, faith, and happiness in himself than he ever had before. There could be no other possible explanation for why he was the chosen hero to command the power of the six Battle Stars, and knowing made Luigi’s bravery and courage grow more than ever.

As he continued towards the forest, however, Luigi began finding the path to the forest to be rather hilly and muddy. Constantly vacuuming mud off his shoes, Luigi was starting to get the urge to find some other way to the forest. Fortunately, though, the mud only went so far down the path, and Luigi was eventually able to continue mud free while fending off any local enemies. Though there were a lot, it was good practice for Luigi’s Super Punch, and getting the hang of the move’s power.

However, it wasn’t long before Luigi ran into a few boulders blocking the rest of the path. He guessed the ghosts must have put them there to keep any travelers out of the forest. Still, Luigi knew they wouldn’t hold him back. With a few blows of Super Punch, he broke right through them and was able to move on. Unfortunately, though, he’d thrown the third punch so hard, he fell right over and tumbled down the hill ahead. Luigi ran smack into a tree head first once reaching the bottom and fell over unconscious upon impact. Almost immediately afterward, his Poltergust started to float away. Luigi just lay there, unaware that his only way of defeating ghosts had just been swiped by a ghost itself.


To make things a bit clearer and simpler in case you readers didn't quite understand the end, the Battle Stars chose Luigi in order to awaken the power and strength that truly slept within him while Mario was being a glory hog, plus the stars sensed a great will and heroic nature already present and shown in him from helping Mario. :]

Okay, here's chapter 7. I didn't need to do much editing to this one. I was busy the past day though, so that's why I took so long. I just hope I get some feedback soon! xP


Chapter 7: A New Poltergust

“Hey Luigi, are you alright?” a familiar voice asked. Luigi awoke and slowly sat up. Professor Elvin Gadd was standing there beside him, looking down upon the still half-awake plumber. A vacuum was on his back, just like there was when Luigi first met him. The petite professor pushed his spirally glasses up upon his nose as Luigi shook his head and looked around, having feeling the throbbing pain from the blow of the tree in front of him.

“Professor! Yeah, I’m fine, though my head still hurts…” he replied.

“I bet! I saw you slam head first into that tree,” E. Gadd said. “That was one mighty blow.” Luigi nodded in agreement and then felt his back. He gasped and frantically looked around, but his vacuum was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey! My Poltergust is gone!” Luigi exclaimed. “Those dirty ghosts…now how am I going get rid of them?”

“Oh don’t worry about that, my boy,” E. Gadd replied. “Those ghosts are much too strong for the Poltergust 3000 to handle anyway. I made a better vacuum to get them. I call it the Poltergust 4000.”

“Oh, is that the vacuum you have there on your back?”

E. Gadd nodded went on to explain that not only was the Poltergust 4000 much stronger, but it had a larger capacity and could create vortexes with the fire, water, and ice elements that the Poltergust 3000 was able to fire normally. Any ghost sucked up into it was automatically disintegrated and destroyed, making room for more ghosts. E. Gadd said it’s the only vacuum capable of sucking up the ghosts in the forest and Luigi would need it if he’s to defeat them.

“I’ve actually been looking for you for the same reason you’re going out to the forest,” E. Gadd went on. “Those Boos were somehow freed from my lab and now they’re hiding in another haunted mansion from what I’ve found out.” Luigi wasn’t at all surprised to hear this.

“Freed? So Bowser did have something to do with this after all,” he said.

“Who?”

Luigi again told the story of Bowser’s attack and Mario’s kidnapping. Not only was Luigi trying to save him again, but this time it was on a larger scale, and not just within a haunted mansion full of ghosts. He then said that Bowser must have been the one to free the Boos and infiltrate the lab, because he was the only one who would do such a thing and had reason for it in the first place. E. Gadd listened carefully and asked Luigi to go on, who then explained his Battle Star quest.

“Wow, you certainly have a lot on your shoulders!” E. Gadd replied. “Come to my lab with me for a few minutes. There’s something else I’d like you to see.”

Luigi then started following E. Gadd to his lab, a place he hadn’t been to since the haunted mansion incident. There, E. Gadd had the machine he used to turn ghosts into paintings and vice versa. It was also where he made the Poltergusts. When they got inside, Luigi’s jaw fell almost immediately. The place was dark, out of power, and all the Poltergusts were destroyed. A pile of vacuum parts just lay on the floor. All the machinery of the professor’s lab looked as if it hadn’t been touched in days. Luigi couldn’t believe his eyes and nearly tripped over one of the broken vacuums. He examined the rubble before turning to face the professor.

“Do you think Bowser did this as well?” E. Gadd asked. “I spend a long time on those vacuums, and now I have no light in here to repair them with, which also means the Game Boy Horror is useless too.”

“No,” Luigi replied, turning around. “I don’t think Bowser did this one. Someone else, most likely in league with Bowser, is-a probably responsible for this mess and the forest business.” E. Gadd paused for a moment before saying anymore.

“What? You don’t think…?” he began. Luigi nodded with a confident smile.

“King Boo.”

Later on, after discussing the matter some more and listening to how E. Gadd was able to save the vacuum from destruction by taking it from the lab, Luigi began training a bit with the Poltergust 4000 before going out to the forest, as E. Gadd told him it worked a bit differently than the 3000. The sucking was stronger and reduced a ghost’s power quicker, which could be a bit tougher to get the hang of. After applying the element medals he’d found in the first haunted mansion, Luigi practiced with them and the vortexes the vacuum was capable of creating. They were strong as well, and could hit more than one ghost at once.

Once Luigi felt he had the hang of the vacuum, E. Gadd put him to the test at the forest’s entrance. When ghosts started appearing, Luigi switched the vacuum on, tightly gripping the vacuum tube. Instead of seeing fear in his mind, for once, Luigi only saw courage, something that had never happened to him before. He smiled and aimed the vacuum’s flashlight at one of the ghosts, then sucked away at their might, causing them to grow weaker every second.

“Yeah!” Luigi happily exclaimed when he sucked up the first couple of ghosts. “King Boo is in for a big surprise!”

“I couldn’t agree more,” E. Gadd replied. “Like I said the last time we met, Luigi, you were born to suck up ghosts!”

“Thanks,” Luigi said with a smile. “I’m going to go get started. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

“Alright, good luck,” E. Gadd complimented. “And be careful!”

Luigi nodded and started into the dark depths of the forest. As soon as he stepped foot on the path, however, he found himself surrounded by immediate darkness and wilted trees, though it was only early afternoon. Ghosts almost immediately began to appear, and the only light found in the area at all was the shine of Luigi’s flashlight. It was so dark, Luigi had to use the flashlight to see his way around in addition to stunning ghosts, which made it hard when he switched the vacuum on and the flashlight off. Regardless, he still managed to get the first few and continue down the path.

Not much farther down, Luigi came across a fork in the path. More of the ghosts showed up, however, keeping him from choosing a path to take. Once he was through with them, Luigi began hearing small footsteps coming from somewhere up ahead. Suddenly, Bowser Jr. appeared from the path on the left fork, an eager grin on his face. He laughed at Luigi’s presence in the forest and clenched his clawed hands together. Luigi clenched his own fists and gritted his teeth.

“Bowser Jr.! What do you want?!” he demanded.

“Hee hee hee!” Bowser Jr. cackled. “I knew I’d find you alive! Just wait ‘til my dad finds out what you’ve been up to! He’s gonna be MAAAD.”
“Yeah, what are you going to do about it?” Luigi replied.

“I’m glad you asked!” Bowser Jr. said, grinning excitedly. “I can tell you’re looking for King Boo, so I’ll just whup you myself before you can even get a clue to his whereabouts! Hahaha!” With that, Luigi let his hands glow with star power again and prepared to fight the younger Koopa. Bowser Jr. curled himself into a ball and started rolling around at speeds he’d never reached before. Luigi thought it to be rather strange, but didn’t let his thoughts distract him when he leaped into the air to dodge the rolling. He then thought that Bowser probably gave his son some of the star power he had conquered from the Grand Battle Star.

Once Bowser Jr. stopped rolling, Luigi attempted to strike with a Super Punch, however instead of getting hit, Bowser Jr. jumped into the air himself to dodge it. He laughed confidently at the miss and stood there before him while Luigi grew more desperate.

“Impressed with my new abilities?” Bowser Jr. asked. “My dad always gets the best ideas!” Luigi didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to fight, anger and desperateness building up in his mind.

Once Bowser Jr. started rolling around again, Luigi brainstormed to find a way to counter it. Then he remembered the ground pound move and jumped in the air to avoid getting hit by the rolling. Luigi came down near Bowser Jr. with a bang, causing him to get stuck on his back. Smiling, Luigi landed a Super Punch right on the Koopa’s chest, who then landed with a thump on the ground after being hit upwards.

“You’re not the only one who’s-a been learning,” Luigi said with confidence. Bowser Jr. scrambled to his feet, his childish and evil grin turning into an angry frown.

“Hey, two can play at that game!” he replied. Luigi’s eyebrows rose as the Koopa threw his right fist into the air above his head and punched the ground in front of him. It shook so hard, Luigi lost his balance and fell over. He knew now how seriously he really needed to take Bowser Jr.’s new power and abilities. The star power within him was very noticeable by now.

As the fight went on, the two were basically fighting fire with fire. Both were hitting the ground and making each other fall, however, the only exception was Bowser Jr.’s rolling attack. It was one of his advantages, in which Luigi could not easily counter. Luigi himself, however, also had one advantage, but he didn’t realize it. That is, until he noticed Koopa shells lying around, probably from Koopas that used to reside there. Smiling, Luigi rolled out of the way of Bowser Jr.’s rolling and quickly grabbed a shell. He kept his grip on the hard shell until he could aim just right and tossed it at the rolling Koopa in front of him. Bowser Jr. broke from his roll after being hit and fell over backwards yet again. Luigi gave him another Super Punch and this time bashed him against a tree. The young Koopa just sat there with a sly grin on his face.

“Hehe” Bowser Jr. said. “You’ve gotten tougher than I expected! But you’re still no match for my dad’s star power! Hee hee hee hee!” With that, he got up and started moving even faster than before. His rolling sped up, and his ground punches fell harder and quicker. Luigi didn’t let that stop him, however. He decided to do the same thing: speed up.

However, Luigi soon found it wasn’t easy keeping a fast pace. It didn’t take long for him to start feeling exhausted from moving quickly, but he knew he couldn’t give up. Though with a struggle, Luigi continued to keep up, hoping Bowser Jr. would soon feel fatigue as well. Luckily for him, after another few hits with a Super Punch, the Koopa once again slammed into a tree and fell down against the trunk. However this time, he wasn’t grinning. Bowser Jr. just sat there in the dull feeling of defeat and exhaust.

“Waah!” he cried. “You’re so mean! Just wait until you see me again! I’ll heartily make you regret this!” The Koopa then ran off past Luigi and disappeared down the path the plumber had come up.

“I would love to see him try,” Luigi said to himself with a laugh. He readied the Poltergust 4000 and decided to take the same path on which Bowser Jr. first appeared, eager as ever to seek out King Boo and the rest of the ghosts. Luigi fearlessly disappeared into the growing darkness on the path ahead, only to be seen by the light of his flashlight. Little did he know, however, that other business besides King Boo’s was in progress. He’d completely forgotten to consider Bowser having a reason for releasing King Boo from his vacuum prison, as the only thing on his mind at the moment was standing up to the fearful king of the Boos without fear…and finding the next Battle Star.


Yes, even King Boo is in on the bargain! How can I make Luigi the hero without his own arch nemesis making a big appearance?

Aw geez. I don't want this thread to end up having a finished story with no feedback. I want some soon. I mean, I know this is a Zelda forum, but still, there's bound to be Mario/Luigi fans too. ;_; Chapter 8 is done. I didn't need to do much editing here either.


Chapter 8: Ghostly Business

Darkness began to creep over Bowser’s fortress as dusk was approaching. There weren’t very many windows in the place, causing it to grow dark quickly. It had been a long day for Luigi and his kidnapped friends, whom were still awaiting him inside the fortress. Mario slumped over inside his cell, struggling every now and then to get out of his ropes. He still worried much about Luigi’s safety as well as the rest of Mushroom Kingdom, hoping that his brother found a way to rescue them.

Mario’s thoughts were interrupted by the stomping of giant feet in the next room. Bowser burst through the doors, a wide, evil grin upon his face. He laughed malevolently as he peered down upon his helpless nemesis, coming to a halt in front of the cell. Mario quickly sat up at the sight of the giant Koopa, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Peach and Yoshi looked up at Bowser with fear in their minds.

“Your time is soon to be up, Mario!” Bowser said, still grinning. “After tonight, you’ll have but one more day before I finally have Peach all to myself! Bwahahahaha!” The anger in Mario’s mind was by now burning up. He tugged at his ropes, but still could not break free.

“You won’t get away with this!” Mario retorted. “Luigi is-a somewhere out there looking for us right now! I can feel it!” Bowser simply laughed again.

“Oh really?” he replied, sarcastically. “If your little cowardly brother is out there, I’m sure King Boo will take care of him!” Hearing the name King Boo made Mario freeze where he sat in an instant. He never forgot Luigi’s fear of ghosts, and that thought had now come to his mind as a problem.

“What?! No!” Mario shot back.

“Yes! He won’t stand a ghost of a chance!” Bowser corrected, chuckling at his own joke. “To take your mind off him, let me present you and Yoshi with a little surprise. Hehehe.” Yoshi started shaking frightfully as the fiend said these words. Behind Bowser came Kamek, armed with his magic staff. He cackled like a witch in front of the trembling Yoshi.

“Hello, Yoshi!” Kamek said. “I’m sure you remember me.”

“Will you have the honors?” Bowser asked. Kamek smiled conspiringly.

“I’d be delighted!” he heartily agreed. Kamek waved his staff and zapped it at Yoshi who, upon being hit, was turned to wood. Peach gasped, cupping her mouth with her hands. Mario glared at Kamek, now angrier than ever.

“After tomorrow, when your time has come and Bowser’s plan is ready, Mario, Yoshi will burn in a nice bonfire! Hee hee hee!” Kamek exclaimed. It was then and there Mario’s angry face turned into a worried one again. Now he had both his brother and his oldest friend to worry about. Bowser and Kamek turned to leave the room, laughing some more.

“Luigi…please get here in time!” Mario pleaded. Peach looked worriedly at the wooden Yoshi and then back at Mario.

“But what about King Boo?” she wondered. “Poor Luigi…he’s always feared ghosts.”

“That didn’t stop him from defeating him the first time in that mansion, did it?” Mario continued, remembering the mansion incident again. “Luigi has done it once…he can do it again.”

***

Mario didn’t know how correct he was. Deep inside the dark forest, Luigi was hard at work, sucking up ghosts with the Poltergust 4000. However, he gone so far inside that he wasn’t sure of the way out anymore. All he could do was continue on down the path he was following. Luigi’s thoughts were concentrated on finding King Boo as he went on, forgetting what Bowser Jr. had said before he left.

Not much time had passed before Luigi spotted a clearing in the path ahead of him. Right in the middle of the clearing stood a group of fire ghosts floating about. Nearby was a small puddle of water, probably containing water elemental ghosts. Luigi readied the Poltergust 4000 and tip toed over to the puddle, slowly turning on the vacuum as he went. Just as soon as he began sucking up elemental ghosts, however, the fire ghosts spotted him and began floating towards him.

Luigi barely sucked up one elemental ghost before he had to stop and get out of the way. Almost immediately, he began shooting a water vortex from the vacuum at the ghosts. It took a bit of time, proving that these ghosts were indeed stronger than their predecessors from the old mansion. Once they were weakened enough, Luigi began sucking them all up one by one, however the darkness made it more difficult to see them, even with the flashlight on.

After sucking up the last ghost, Luigi pressed on through the darkness, now thinking about how nice it would be to see the light again. Just as soon as he began thinking of daylight, however, he came upon a break in the trees, and a mansion stood ahead. It was very much unlike the last one Luigi had explored. Parts of it had been torn to the ground, and the roof was completely absent. A gigantic hole in the left wall of the first floor was plainly visible with the flashlight, and a number of windows were broken. Smaller holes could be seen in the upper walls, and half the second floor was missing. Luigi scratched the back of his head in confusion as he stared at the mansion before him.

“Mama mia…” he said, walking into the front yard. “How odd. The professor never said the mansion was in ruins.” Deciding that E. Gadd must have had no knowledge of the mansion’s physical state, Luigi carried on to the front of the house. He shined the flashlight upon the front door, only to find it had been blocked off by pieces of wall from the second floor. Though reluctant to do so, Luigi then went over to the hole in the left wall and stepped through it.

The inside of the mansion was dark and dimly lit by candles in the room, which appeared to be a kitchen. The pieces of wall from the hole were lying nearby, and the room looked as if no one had been there for years. Cobwebs and dust filled the furniture while the cupboards looked old and cracked. The sink was right next to the hole in the wall and had apparently been smashed by the broken pieces missing from it. The refrigerator next to it had a partially broken door and was filled chilly air. A dented oven sat near the door to the next room. Luigi began walking around, keeping an eye out for anymore ghosts. However, before he could make a few steps, he was already beginning to feel the chill coming from the refrigerator.

“Wow, is-s it c-c-cold in here!” Luigi stuttered, his teeth beginning to chatter.

Suddenly, a blue ice ghost popped out of nowhere, startling the plumber. Luigi quickly turned on the Poltergust and aimed it at the candles. A fire elemental ghost was gradually sucked into the vacuum. Before he could finish, however, another ice ghost appeared behind Luigi. He quickly moved to face both ghosts and created a fire vortex. It weakened both ghosts slowly, yet at the same time. Luigi then sucked them up into the vacuum once they were weak enough, just as he had done to the fire ghosts in the forest clearing.

Upon getting the last ghost, Luigi switched the vacuum off and took a brief rest before continuing. He was beginning to find that sucking up these ghosts were more of an exhausting problem than the first set King Boo had released in the old mansion. However, Luigi wouldn’t let that stop him, so he scrambled to his feet a few minutes later and entered the door ahead. Inside was what appeared to be the dining room, and not surprisingly enough, it was in better shape than the kitchen was with the exception of the wall to Luigi’s right. Several huge cracks were visible on it, and bent paintings sat on the floor. Ignoring them, Luigi walked around, cautiously keeping watch for more ghosts.

Just as Luigi accidentally bumped a dining chair at the table, ghosts began showing up. He readied the vacuum yet again and sucked them all up one by one, wondering now if he would find King Boo somewhere in the mansion. Once the room was clear, Luigi went through the next door, which was across the room from the door he had entered.

Luigi found himself standing in a long hallway leading to the other side of the mansion. Halfway down there was another hall crisscrossing with the first one. Luigi decided to take a peek down it, and noticed a hole in the wall next to one of the doors. It revealed a staircase behind the door, which Luigi then assumed led upstairs. He walked down and tried the doorknob, but found it locked.

Knowing there must be a key for it somewhere in the house, Luigi started searching the other rooms on the first floor, including the library, conservatory, living room, and the room by the still blocked front door. He cleaned them up of the ghosts there, but found no key. Luigi even searched the bathroom, knowing that something such as a key could be hidden practically anywhere. Sometime later, Luigi had narrowed it down to one more room: the gym, which was on the opposite side of the mansion from where he first entered.

“If that key isn’t in here, then I missed something,” Luigi said to himself.
The gym had all the usual equipment of a gym. A treadmill sat against the wall, barbells were on the floor along with some mats, and punching bags hung from the ceiling. In addition to bikes and other equipment, there were also pull up bars, something the gym from the old mansion didn’t have. Luigi began walking around the room, taking an occasional swap at a punching bag to gain some skill in Super Punching. Just as Luigi was walking past an open window at the east end of the room, a ghost appeared beside him. Suddenly, it threw out its arms and shoved Luigi out of the window.

“Waaah!” Luigi yelped as he found himself landing in a small sized garbage dumpster. The impact of the fall was so great, the dumpster tumbled over to the ground, pouring garbage all over Luigi. He slowly got up to his feet while still feeling some pain from hitting the ground.

“Ugh! This is-a just gross!” Luigi exclaimed. He started brushing garbage off of his clothes. Banana peels, chicken bones, dirty napkins, cans, food, bags, and who knows what else had fallen all over him. Just as Luigi finished, however, he noticed something shiny sticking out of an open can. He plucked it out and found it was the key he had been looking for.

“Now why in the world would someone throw a house key in the garbage?” Luigi wondered with great confusion. Anyone in their right mind would not throw out such an important object. Deciding not to worry about it, Luigi climbed back through the window to suck up the ghost that had literally thrown him away. It appeared almost immediately after Luigi was back in the room, along with other ghosts.

“Nice try, but smelling like garbage won’t hold me back!” Luigi exclaimed as he began sucking up the ghosts one by one. By now he realized that he smelled of garbage, however Luigi was not aware that he’d be heading back to Toad Town that way. Once the room was ghost free, Luigi returned to the hallway to try the key on the locked door.

After finding that the key fit perfectly, Luigi scrambled up the stairs as quickly as possible, eager find out if King Boo was hiding in the mansion. Many of the walls were almost completely gone, making travel around the second floor very easy. A lone door stood at the back of the house, with half destroyed walls surrounding it. The floors were full of puddles, probably from rain. Luigi quickly scavenged the rooms before heading in that direction and sucked up any ghosts remaining in the house, one room of which had water ghosts in addition to normal ones. Luckily for Luigi, however, a bucket of ice sat on an end table in the corner of the room.

Luigi slowly walked up to the door of the final room and entered once he was through with the previous room. Inside was a fancier room than some of the others Luigi had visited. A jeweled chandelier hung on the ceiling while silver framed paintings hung on the wall. A table sat on the opposite side of the room and was full of jewelry and other riches. In front of the table on the floor sat a small treasure chest. Luigi attempted to open it, but it was locked shut.

“Well, well, well. Looks like my order to throw you in the rubbish didn’t teach you a lesson, Luigi,” a voice behind Luigi said. Luigi turned around to find a Boo blocking the door, which now had bars over it.

“So you’re the one behind the garbage act!” Luigi exclaimed. “Falling in a dumpster is-a nothing!”

“Oh really?” the Boo said. “Very well. Master King Boo didn’t describe you as so determined. I’ll have to deal with you myself!” Luigi grimaced as he gripped the Poltergust 4000 in preparation to suck up the ghost.

“I don’t think so!” Luigi replied. He switched the vacuum on and sucked away.

“Eeeep! That vacuum is stronger than the one I stole from you!” the Boo yelped. Luigi smiled as the Boo’s energy drained away. However, the Boo had so much energy that it escaped the vacuum before Luigi could completely finish it. He suddenly flew out of the house and dropped a key while leaving.

“You won’t get me that easily!” the Boo shouted as he left. Luigi rolled his eyes and picked the key up. He tried it on the treasure chest and found it fit. Inside the chest was a small bag with a string tied on it. A folded piece of paper was attached to the string. It read:

King Boo’s Magic Ghost Powder: Sprinkle it on a live creature to turn it into a ghost. Effect lasts until the subject touches light or eats one of Mario’s Super Mushrooms. Thankfully, no more exist around here! Haha! Also, as a ghost, the subject gets the power of a ghost. These abilities include turning invisible, floating, going through solid objects, and ghost vision (which allows the ghost to see well in the dark and other ghosts whether they’re invisible or not). That is all!

“Magic Ghost Powder, huh?” Luigi said to himself. “Looks like the only way to stop all these ghosts for good is to become a ghost myself!” With that, Luigi untied the string and reached into the bag. After pulling out a small handful of the grayish colored powder, he sprinkled it over his head. His whole body almost immediately turned into a whitish, almost transparent version of himself. Luigi’s legs became a ghostly tail, allowing him to fly around the room. He also became much lighter, giving him the note that using the Poltergust would be more difficult.

Luigi flew above the house to view the forest from above. After stashing the bag of powder in his pocket, he peered around the trees, looking for any sign of King Boo. It didn’t take long for Luigi to spot him in a forest clearing just a little north of the mansion. He saw the other Boo down there with him, who appeared to be having a conversation.

“Bingo,” Luigi mumbled to himself. While in his ghostly form, he flew down behind the house and went through the trees, finding out he had a special ghost vision for seeking out hidden ghosts.

“Yahoo!” Luigi exclaimed as he zoomed past the trees. “I could get used to this."

Luigi hid himself behind a bush once he arrived at the clearing in which King Boo and his Boo minion were talking. Being able to overhear some of the conversation, Luigi hovered there quietly and listened in on what the two ghosts were saying. The Boo minion appeared to look troubled while King Boo had a grin on his ghostly face, both of them unaware of Luigi’s presence nearby.

“Interesting how the garbage trick failed to stop him,” King Boo inferred.

“Yeah. He’s changed more than we thought,” the Boo minion replied.

“And he’s armed with another one of E. Gadd’s retched vacuums!”

“What?!” King Boo exclaimed. “Impossible! We destroyed all of his vacuums!”

“W-well, apparently we missed one,” the Boo minion said. “And it’s a deal stronger than those other vacuums we smashed. I only narrowly escaped being sucked up!”

“Hm…” King Boo replied. “This is more serious than I thought it would get. Give me the key to the box where I hid the Magic Ghost Powder.”

“Alright, I have it right—” the Ghost minion began. However, he found no key. “Oh no! It’s gone!”

“You lost it?!” King Boo exclaimed. “Fool! That powder was my creation! Anyone could have found it now!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say anyone,” a voice behind the two ghosts said. King Boo and his minion turned around to see Luigi, still in ghost form, twirling the string of the Magic Ghost Powder pouch around his finger. King Boo gasped when he saw who was in possession of his powder.

“You!” he exclaimed. “And my powder!”

“Oh, so you noticed. It’s-a coming quite in handy too, I must say,” Luigi replied.

“Ha. Even if you do have my powder and have taken ghost form with it, I’m still more powerful than you’ll ever be thanks to the new power Bowser gave me!” King Boo stated.

“We’ll see about that!” Luigi said. With that, he readied the Poltergust 4000 on his back and aimed it at King Boo. Before Luigi could suck a morsel of energy from him, however, King Boo vanished into thin air. Luigi frantically looked around the area, but the evil ghost was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t take long for him to remember he could use ghost vision to seek him out and soon spotted King Boo hovering in front of a tree. Luigi attempted to suck his energy away again, but due to being very light as a ghost, he couldn’t manipulate the vacuum very quickly. Instead, King Boo turned him back into human form at a mere flash of his eyes before the plumber could even aim. Luigi plopped onto the ground due to the fact that he had been hovering.

“Aw terrific…” he mumbled as he looked at himself. The Boo minion simply cackled his ghostly cackle.

“King Boo left out the part where he could change you back!” he said.

“So I noticed,” Luigi replied. “Oh, by the way, I’m afraid you won’t be needed here.” With that, he quickly aimed the vacuum at the Boo minion and sucked away at his remaining energy. In just seconds, the ghost was nothing more than vacuum contents. King Boo suddenly reappeared behind Luigi, angry in the eyes.

“How dare you suck up my friend!” he exclaimed. Luigi whirled around to find the ghost directly before him and aimed the vacuum again. Being quick with it in his normal human form, Luigi started sucking away. King Boo was not as easy to take energy from as the other ghosts, however. The pull of the vacuum’s sucking was only barely strong enough to hold him for a few seconds or even less. As a result, King Boo escaped easily and disappeared again.

Luigi immediately sprinkled more of the Magic Ghost Powder and returned to ghost form. While using ghost vision again, Luigi switched the vacuum on to get a head start in draining more of King Boo’s energy. He again spotted him in front of a tree. Luigi slowly floated towards him so as not to screw up his aim. Once he approached King Boo, he caught him in the sucking again, but this time managed to keep him longer by pinning him against the tree. Luigi decided that the trees were the key to draining the fearsome ghost’s energy quickly.

The ghostly battle went on as the two floated in the forest clearing. Every now and then, King Boo turned Luigi back into his normal form, however Luigi would immediately turn ghost again after, unless he had a chance to drain more of King Boo’s energy. When his energy seemed to have gotten low, King Boo paused in front of Luigi and started panting, indicating that he could soon fall to defeat.

“If I go on like this, I’m going to become vacuum contents!” he exclaimed. Suddenly, he knocked the Poltergust 4000 out of Luigi’s hands, which then wound up getting launched into a tree behind him. Luigi gasped and flew up to retrieve the vacuum, but it was stuck in the tree branch. King Boo was right behind him and attempted to tackle Luigi to the ground, however he dashed out of the way. However, before he could move again, Luigi found himself with a taste of his own medicine: cornered at a tree. King Boo cackled malevolently in front of him and was ready to land an attack. Suddenly, as fear almost struck Luigi again, he suddenly turned invisible and King Boo went right into the tree. Finally realizing he could do that, Luigi quickly scrambled for the vacuum and rigged the branch as hard as he could and eventually freed it from its trap. Luigi quickly hit the switch and aimed for King Boo. The ghost yelped as Luigi sucked away the last of his energy and disappeared inside the vacuum.

Luigi hovered there for a few seconds, panting from all the fighting with his now defeated nemesis. Just as he was about to find some light and change back to his normal self, he noticed the forest grew lighter, revealing more trees and paths around him. Clouds floated above the night sky, telling Luigi that the sun had set and the overcast had blotted out the moon. The only way he could change back now was by somehow getting ahold of a super mushroom.

“Mama mia…” Luigi said to himself. “Looks like I’ll be stuck as a ghost for a little while longer.”

Before he could make another move, however, Luigi noticed an opening in the bushes nearby had been revealed by the now darkness-free forest. He curiously floated down inside it, and found himself in another small cave, smaller than the one he had encountered after leaving the canyon’s mazes. Already, Luigi spotted something shiny at the other end of the chamber. He approached it slowly, and found it was the second Battle Star. This star was colored a dark, rather bright blue, close to the same shade as Mario’s overalls. He grabbed it from its small pedestal and wondered if King Boo, as well as Bowser, new about the stars. Luigi, a curious smile on his face, left the cave with two stars in possession. Only four more were still to be found.


Like my idea of Ghost Luigi? It was inspired by Mario's Boo form in SMG. Luigi isn't a Boo though, he's himself in ghost form. ;D

I'm beginning to get impatient here. I'd like some feedback SOONER or later.

Chapter 9 is done.


Chapter 9: Another Missing Princess

Luigi flew up above the forest into the night time air, already spotting Toad Town in the distance from high up. Glad he was able to get out of the forest with no trouble at all, he slowly made his descent as he drew closer to town. By now, a lot of things were on Luigi’s mind, such as which Battle Star to go after next, whether Daisy had anything new to tell him, or if E. Gadd had gotten his electricity back. However, just as he was wondering about the short professor, Luigi spotted E. Gadd himself at the forest entrance. However, upon noticing the ghost Luigi, he suddenly put a shocking look on his face.

“L-Luigi! What in the world happened to you?!” the professor exclaimed, worried stiff. Luigi came to a halt and put the Poltergust 4000 on the ground beside him, not realizing that being a ghost could make others get ideas.

“Calm down!” Luigi replied. “I’m not dead or anything, don’t worry. It’s-a this.” Luigi showed E. Gadd the Magic Ghost Powder and explained his transformation with it.

“Ah, I see,” E. Gadd said. “Well, did you get King Boo and the rest of those ghosts?”

“Yep, the forest is back to normal,” Luigi assured. “I have a full vacuum for you.”

“Great job! I knew I could count on you again. However, I haven’t yet fixed up my lab,” E. Gadd explained. “I need you to guard that vacuum anyway. I don’t want to take any chances of Bowser finding it.”

“Good idea,” Luigi agreed. “I’d better be off if I’m going to return to normal.” With that, Luigi waved good bye and continued on to Toad Town, knowing he would have to be careful and get to his house without being seen.

Once Luigi approached the outskirts of town, he hovered behind the buildings and headed towards his house on the southwest side. When it seemed like he would make it, however, he heard the sound of feet behind him. Luigi turned around to find Toad walking around, looking like he was waiting for someone. He tried to get away without getting spotted, but Toad screamed before Luigi could fly an inch further.

“EGAAAH! LUIGI, YOU’RE A GHOST!” Toad shrieked. Luigi grew nervous. He didn’t want to scare the whole town.

“Whoa, whoa! Shush!” he scolded. “Before I end up making the whole town go crazy!” Toad stopped yelling and started panting.

“Well, what on earth are you trying to do? Give someone a heart attack?”

“No, listen,” Luigi replied. “Awhile back, Mario stashed some extra super mushrooms in our house somewhere in case they’re needed right away. I need them for later.” Luigi then explained the Magic Ghost Powder and how he needed the mushrooms to return to normal if there was no light available. Now realizing he could simply turn on a light in his house, Luigi could change back in there. However, later he may need to use a mushroom.

“Alright, then go ahead,” Toad said. “I’ll be waiting for you out here. There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Luigi nodded and quickly disappeared through the wall of his house before anyone else saw him.

Inside, the house seemed nearly pitch black inside until Luigi felt around for the light switch and switched on the light in the bedroom. He returned to his normal form upon touching the light. What Luigi wasn’t sure of was where Mario hid the super mushrooms. Recalling that Mario had told him once, Luigi had long forgotten where his brother said they were. He decided to hide the Poltergust somewhere while he attempted to recall the location of the mushrooms.

“Where, oh where did he say he put them?!” Luigi mumbled to himself, getting frustrated in trying to refresh his memory. He opened the closet to hide the vacuum there and then took a key from a secret compartment on the inside of the closet to lock it up. Then, all of a sudden, the location of the super mushrooms came back to Luigi. They were in another secret compartment located behind the picture on the wall between the two twin-sized beds in the bedroom. The picture was of Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi out on the beach. Luigi quickly threw open the picture and opened the secret compartment. Inside was the stash of super mushrooms.

“Yes! Thank you, Mario!” Luigi said to himself. He grabbed a few of the mushrooms and closed the secret compartment. Before leaving the house, Luigi looked at the picture on the wall, thinking again about his captured brother and friends. He hoped they were still hanging on, wherever Bowser had taken them. Once he was back outside, Luigi returned to Toad, who was waiting on the path.

“Luigi! I was hoping you—PEEEUUU!” Toad said, putting his hands over his little face. “Where have you been? You smell like rotten food!” Luigi had forgotten he still smelled of garbage from the incident in the mansion and must not have had a scent as a ghost.

“I, uh…sorry,” Luigi apologized. “Let’s-a just say I got knocked into something smelly.” Luigi started going red in the cheeks, embarrassed about smelling the way he did.

“I see. You’ve got to get rid of that odor, please…” Toad replied. “Anyway, we’ve got to talk. Something bad has happened at the castle again!”

“What? What happened?” Luigi wondered, his heart now pounding with concern.

“Bowser Jr. broke in and kidnapped Princess Daisy!” Toad replied. Luigi’s eyes widened with shock.

“Bowser Jr. did wh—oh no…” Luigi said, slapping his face with his hand. “Mama mia! I should’ve known he would pull a stunt like that…”

“What do you mean?” Toad asked.

Luigi told Toad of his encounter with Bowser Jr. in the forest and how he wanted to make Luigi regret beating him. Luigi thought Bowser Jr. was probably going to fight him again later, not kidnap anyone, especially Daisy. Now, however, it occurred to Luigi that Bowser Jr. knew Daisy was helping the desperate plumber find his friends. It was only logical that the Koopa would want to keep Luigi from finding out anything that would lead him to Bowser.

“This doesn’t sound good at all,” Toad replied. “Toadsworth has the rest of the details. You’ve got to go see him and get Daisy back. It’s bad enough that Bowser already has Mario and the others.”

“Yeah. Leave it to me,” Luigi agreed. With that, Luigi headed off towards the castle, wishing he could hide his garbage smell. Now he’d be stinking up the whole town just to figure out where Daisy is, plus the nasty odor would be exposed inside the castle. Then again, maybe he wouldn’t have to go into the castle at all, if he planned this just right.

Luigi walked up to the castle and peered through a window near the front door. He spotted Toadsworth and Toadette half way down the room. He tapped on the window to get their attention and motioned them to come outside. Both of them appeared at the front door within seconds, glad as ever to see the plumber was alright.

“Sorry, I don’t think I should go in the castle right now,” Luigi apologized. Toadsworth’s eyes suddenly widened as he approached Luigi.

“I think I just discovered why,” he replied, holding his face with his hands. “Where’ve you been, in the rubbish? You smell awful!”

“Well…yes,” Luigi replied, his embarrassment returning. “But there’s-a no time to explain. Toad told me what happened. I need to know more about this.”

“Ah, right. Bowser Jr. stormed into the castle unexpectedly and took Daisy with him,” Toadsworth explained. “Boy, was she angry.”

“And she tried to fight back too,” Toadette added. “A tough one she is. I wanted to help her, but that meanie got the best of both of us.”

“And now we have to repair the back door,” Toadsworth said in a frustrated tone. “Luckily for us, Toadette and I caught Bowser Jr. heading up north towards Mount Shroom. You’ve got to follow him there.”

“If that’s-a the case, then that’s-a where I’ll go,” Luigi promised. He gave his good byes and set off for the northern paths.

The north path leading outside of Toad Town, which began partially behind the castle, Luigi found was drier than the forest paths had been. The chilly night time air began to get to him as he walked on, wishing he could find some way to keep warm. The clouds covering the sky began to clear up, revealing the full moon overhead. Still, Luigi walked on, hoping that wherever Daisy was on Mount Shroom, she was alright. He also wondered what Bowser Jr. was up to there.

Not much time had passed before Luigi came upon a fallen tree blocking the road ahead. He wondered if Bowser’s minions were trying to block off every path in the kingdom, or the tree was simply there from natural causes. Either way, he had to move it to continue to Mount Shroom. Luigi attempted to break it with Super Punch, but the blows weren’t strong enough to penetrate the wood. Suddenly, just as he attempted to try once more, he found his hand engulfed in a ball of green fire. Luigi then eyed the tree with a smile.

“Well, if it isn’t my old green fireball,” he said. He threw the fireball at the tree, which set aflame upon being hit. Luigi watched the tree burn up and open the path forward for him.

Sometime later, Luigi looked upon Mount Shroom’s distant peak. The foot of the mountain was not far away now, and soon he realized that his Battle Star list had a mountain as one of the locations. Luigi figured that Mount Shroom was the mountain the list was referring to and decided to keep a lookout for the star while he was up there. Suddenly, a female voice spoke up behind him as he was moving on.

“Oh, Luigi! I’m glad I found you!” the voice said. It sounded like Peach, but that was impossible. Luigi turned around and she was indeed standing there before him.

“Peach? But how—?” Luigi started. He was so confused that he had trouble getting a question out.

“Oh, Mario and I escaped from Bowser hours ago,” Peach explained. “However, I think he’s looking for us again.”

“Hmm…then where is Mario?” Luigi asked. He felt something wasn’t right about this picture. This doesn’t make any sense, Luigi thought. They couldn’t have escaped that easily and so soon. Very fishy. He waited for Peach to reply, deciding to play along a bit to get more information.

“He’s been in Toad Town this whole time waiting for you,” Peach replied with a smile. “You ought to head back and see what he wants.”

“I was just there and didn’t see him. If Mario was there, I would have found him,” Luigi assured, suspecting foul play. “He wouldn’t have left, because I know my brother isn’t that impatient.” He folded his arms and waited to see what Peach would say to that.

“Hm. I’m not sure where he is then,” she replied. “See you later!” Luigi eyed Peach as she strolled down the path in the direction he’d come from. She didn’t seem to be herself at all, and Luigi suspected something suspicious was going on. And then it occurred to him that Peach must have been lying about the escape and Mario’s whereabouts after all, because if she was simply making a mistake, one of the Toads probably would have informed him. The lies reminded Luigi of something Yoshi once told him and Mario. Kamek was known to be dishonest. Another thing, Peach wouldn’t deliberately lie about Mario like that, nor would Mario himself go anywhere after escaping from a villain without telling the Toads first.

Mount Shroom looked higher than ever when Luigi finally stood at the foot of the mountain. Steep paths and cliffs lined the edges of the mountain, and thin clouds hovered around the peak. Trees covered most of the foot while rocky ridges and rock formations ruled higher up. Luigi began climbing the mountain, the conversation with “Peach” and Daisy’s whereabouts still in his mind. Whether or not Kamek had something to do with “Peach’s” lying was still a mystery, but wherever Daisy and the third Battle Star were, Luigi knew he would have to search every nook and cranny of Mount Shroom in order to find them or even figure out what was truly happening up there.

“Something funny is going on here,” Luigi said to himself as he walked up the first and lowest path on the mountain. “And I’m going to find out what.”


What could be going on in Mount Shroom? Luigi must figure that out in order to save Daisy and retrieve the Battle Star that's there waiting for him.

Chapter 10. I'm almost to where I left off now. Feedback must come soon! Please! D:


Chapter 10: Kamek’s Plot

Luigi continued his way up the winding paths of Mt. Shroom, unable to take the thoughts of Daisy and the Peach he met on the path off his hard-working mind. Whatever was happening on the mountain, Bowser Jr. was most likely involved in it, and Luigi suspected Kamek and “Peach” were too. In fact, he thought the latter two had some connection. As Luigi thought, he kept going, running into occasional Dry Bones and Hammer Bros along the way. The fighting made Luigi notice that the enemies were gradually getting tougher as he progressed through his quest. It was only natural, for that had always been the case for him and Mario in the past.

However, just as he was approaching the halfway point up to the top, he heard the Peach voice again somewhere nearby. She reappeared sitting on a rock just up ahead. “Peach” had a smile on her bright face.

“We meet again, Luigi!” she said. “Are you sure your brother isn’t in Toad Town waiting for you?” Luigi folded his arms and eyed her suspiciously.

“I’m pretty sure,” he replied.

“I think you should double check,” Peach said in a cheery voice.

“I think I need to keep going,” Luigi countered. “You’re not holding me back from Daisy, Kamek!” Peach smiled conspiringly and cackled.

“So you figured it out, eh?” Kamek replied, transforming from Peach to his normal self. Luigi kept his arms folded. He figured all along that it had to be Kamek in disguise.

“You weren’t fooling anyone,” he said. “I knew that wasn’t the real Peach from the start.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now!” Kamek replied. “I was merely stalling you so Bowser Jr. had time to deal with your precious princess!” Luigi tried hard not to blush at Kamek’s words, but he couldn’t prevent his cheeks from turning a faint pink. Luckily for him, Kamek didn’t seem to notice.

“And you were trying to trick me into thinking Mario and Peach had escaped so I would give up looking for Bowser!” Luigi added, anger burning up in his mind.

“Hoo hoo, you are a smart one,” Kamek commended. “Too bad you’ll soon meet your match!” Luigi gritted his teeth as Kamek started flying away on his broom up the mountain trail. Luigi immediately sped after him, hoping he wouldn’t be too late to rescue Daisy.

“Come back here and fight, you coward!” Luigi yelled as he ran.

“Look who’s talking,” Kamek retorted. “Catch me if you can!” Luigi ran as fast as he could and began throwing green fireballs at Kamek. However Kamek, as speedy as he is, dodged every single one that Luigi chucked at him. With that, Luigi knew he had to form a strategy and fast. He remembered Yoshi once telling him and Mario that he never actually fought Kamek himself, but the baddies whom he made more powerful with his magic instead. It then reminded Luigi that his Super Punch and other moves should have become more powerful from the second Battle Star.

Knowing this, Luigi then slugged the cliff wall to his left as he ran with a noticeably more powerful Super Punch, sending pieces of rock scattering in every direction. A few of the bigger rocks struck Kamek from behind at high speeds due to the blow of Luigi’s fist. A smile on his face, Luigi sent another fireball and this time made a bullseye. Kamek stumbled over from the impact, but quickly got back up and faced Luigi. The green-clad plumber simply stood there with his arms folded.

“Well, you certainly have some fight in you,” Kamek said. “You’re not at all what Bowser made you out to be. But if you want me to deal with you now, then so be it!” Kamek raised his magic staff and began firing blasts of magic balls at Luigi. He ran and ducked and dodged every one of them, making it clear that Bowser had given Kamek, as well as Bowser Jr., some of the Grand Battle Star’s power. It indicated that Luigi only had a matter of time before all of the star’s power was drained and it would be too late to stop Bowser.

To counter Kamek’s attacks, Luigi threw more fireballs. However, he too, dodged whatever was thrown at him. Luigi came up with another idea regardless, and halted in his tracks, hoping his plan B would work. The next magic attack Kamek fired, Luigi attempted to knock back with a Super Punch, however it struck him anyway, causing him to fall over. Kamek cackled with joy as Luigi yelped in pain from the impact of the ground. More determined than ever, an angry Luigi scrambled to his feet and thought twice.

This time, Luigi readied another fireball, and with a Super Punch-ready fist, threw his hand right into the green blaze and created a combination attack: Super Fire Punch. Kamek’s next attack was penetrated with green fire and knocked back at him as a green flamed magic ball. Now it was his turn to yelp, and Luigi stood there, proud of his new strategy. Kamek continued to fire his magic attacks, even faster after every time Luigi would strike him. Luigi himself, however, wasn’t going to give up that easily.

Time went by as Luigi moved quickly to keep from getting hit by Kamek’s magic attacks again. As quickly as his hands would move, Luigi performed Super Fire Punch whenever he could, and the noticeably powerful move made a big physical blow to Kamek. However, it didn’t take long for him to start weakening. His magic attacks became significantly slower, though he continued to fire them quickly. As soon as Luigi delivered another Super Fire Punch, Kamek collapsed to the ground. Luigi stood there and panted from all the running he’d been doing.

“You’ve gotten much stronger than before…” Kamek said, panting himself. “But don’t think this is the end! We’ll meet again!” With that, he flew off towards the top of the mountain on his broom.

Luigi stood there a bit longer to catch his breath before continuing. Just as he was about to keep going, he spotted a cave entrance up the path ahead. It was directly beneath the mountain summit, which rose high above. Luigi walked up the rest of the path and entered the deep, dark cave, hoping he would find some trace of Daisy or the next Battle Star inside. His only hope was to figure out what Kamek was scheming with Bowser Jr. and escape with Daisy and the star.

The rocky cave, known as Shroom Cavern, was very dimly lit. Luigi could barely see inside among the few torches lining the walls of the cave and carefully listened for any voices near or far. Goombas, Paragoombas with wings, and several other enemies populated the cavern tunnels while a chilly breeze blew in the opposite direction of Luigi’s walking. Holding onto his hat, Luigi fended off any enemies that attempted to attack him, and continued listening for any voices and keeping an eye out for clues.

Sometime later, after wandering through numerous tunnels trailing upward, Luigi found himself in front of a fork in the path. He simply stood there and eyed each one, unsure of which path to take. Suddenly, he heard something coming down from the left path. He opened his ears and recognized the sound right away: Daisy’s voice. A worried Luigi started running down the left path, listening to the voices grow louder. Soon enough, he could make out Bowser Jr.’s and Kamek’s voices as well. He found them in an underground chamber right underneath the mountain summit. Knowing he had to keep from being seen, Luigi ducked behind a nearby rock and listened in on the conversation.

“I can’t believe you let yourself lose to him!” Bowser Jr. shouted. “I told you he wasn’t simply another Mario! We’ve got to take him seriously!”

“I know, but I won’t lose next time,” Kamek replied. “I’m only just getting started, though I have no idea where this weakling could have gotten the power he now wields.”

“You leave Luigi out of this!” Daisy yelled in an angry tone. “Neither of you will ever beat him!” Luigi spotted her locked up in a cell behind Bowser Jr. He turned around and shot his evil little smile at her. Luigi watched them with great curiosity.

“So the little princess thinks her clad-green plumber will come to the rescue, eh?” he asked her. Daisy tried hard to prevent it, but her cheeks turned a rosy pink. Bowser Jr. didn’t seem to care at all.

“Exactly! You know he’ll be here!” an angry Daisy replied.

“And that’s why we have a little surprise planned for his arrival,” Kamek added. Daisy grimaced and gritted her teeth.

“Oooh, you both are so busted when I get out of here!” Daisy retorted. Kamek and Bowser Jr. simply laughed as they walked to the other end of the chamber and conversed once more. Luigi quietly crept towards Daisy’s cell and ducked behind every rock he came across so as not to be seen. A few feet away from Daisy, he quietly tapped against the rock he was hiding behind.

“Luigi!” Daisy whispered happily when she heard the tapping. Luigi motioned her to be quiet as he tip toed up to the lock on her cell, trying to figure out how to open it. Daisy kept eyeing Bowser Jr. and Kamek, hoping they wouldn’t spot Luigi.

“Did Toadsworth and the others tell you I was here?” Daisy asked.

“Yes. Keep your voice down or you’ll give us away,” Luigi replied, tinkering at the lock. “…Okay, I have an idea, but it may take some time.” With that, he created a green fireball and heated up the lock, hoping to burn it off. Daisy watched with fascination.

“You can make fireballs too?” she said quietly. “I knew Mario could. His are normal color though. Yours are a nice green!”

“Yeah, but listen. Kamek is plotting something with Bowser Jr.,” Luigi explained. “Something that involves us. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going to find out.”

Daisy nodded and agreed that they were indeed up to something. Still working on the lock, Luigi concentrated with the green fireball and soon the lock started to slowly melt. In just minutes, it dripped off the cell door and onto the floor. It made a blobbing sound as it hit. However, Kamek heard it and saw Daisy following Luigi out of the cell. He quietly floated up to them unnoticed.

“Going somewhere?” he asked with an evil smile. Luigi stopped in his tracks, followed by Daisy. Bowser Jr. stood behind Kamek with his arms folded. Just standing there, Luigi had to think fast of a way to escape.

STILL nothing?! Come on! Why won't my readers/viewers say anything? ;_;

I really don't want to add anymore chapters until someone comments, but that would make me look too impatient, so yeah.


Chapter 11: Escape and Attack

As Luigi and Daisy stood there face to face with Kamek and Bowser Jr., the two were unsure of what to do. Glancing at Bowser Jr., an idea came to Luigi’s mind.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Luigi,” Kamek said. Luigi glared at him and protectively stood in front of Daisy.

“Ha. You think you can protect her from us?” Kamek continued.
“Bowser has already taken away much of the Grand Battle Star’s power.” Luigi folded his arms and smiled.

“Indeed,” he replied. “Perhaps I won’t be a match for you this time.” Kamek stood there with a slightly confused look on his face. Luigi put a hand behind his back and signaled Daisy that he had an escape plan. She took note of it and stood there watching the scene.

“Oh really?” Kamek asked.

“Yeah, you win,” Luigi fibbed. “I may as well be off.” With that, Luigi started walking away until he got behind Bowser Jr. He had another hand behind his back, this time engulfed in a green fireball. He chuckled quietly to himself. Suddenly, he lit Bowser Jr.’s tail on fire, turning it a bright green. Bowser Jr. sniffed the air, smelling smoke, and suddenly realized what was being cooked.

“YOWWWWWWWW!” he screamed, running all over the room and clutching his burning tail. Kamek whirled around to see what was happening.

“C’mon, now’s our chance!” Luigi exclaimed as he grabbed Daisy’s hand and ran into the tunnel with her. She followed with a smile on her face.

“Luigi, you’re a genius!” Daisy complimented. She chuckled at Bowser Jr, who was still holding his tail.

“Eh, it was a piece of cake,” Luigi replied with a friendly wink. The two continued through the tunnels to escape the mountain, but Luigi was unsure of where he’d first come from. However, only to his disadvantage, Kamek had sent an army of Goombas, Koopas, and Hammer Bros after them. They spotted them in the tunnels not long after their escape from the room in which Daisy had been imprisoned. Luigi motioned Daisy to follow him and the two ran down the tunnel ahead of them. However, Luigi was still unsure of the way out. Thinking they lost the army of enemies, the two stopped at an intersection to catch their breath.

“Hey, what exactly did Bowser Jr. mean by you not being another Mario?” Daisy wondered.

“Oh, he and Kamek probably thought I’d be as easy to trick or stump as he is,” Luigi replied. He then explained Kamek’s fake Peach disguise on the path and how it didn’t fool him for a minute. If Mario really had escaped Bowser with Peach and returned to Toad Town to wait for Luigi, Toadsworth or somebody else in town would have probably known and let Luigi know. However, he’d heard of no such event.

“Wow, that was smart thinking,” Daisy complimented. “I bet you could get yourself out of a situation that Mario wouldn’t have a clue.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Luigi replied. “Mario’s-a pretty smart in his own ways, but I guess the fact that he’s-a more gullible would make me a little smarter.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Just as Daisy was about to say something else, the two heard something coming from behind them. Luigi spotted Kamek’s goons still chasing after them. They looked angrier than ever.

“Nevermind, we’ve got company!” Luigi exclaimed, pointing to the enemies. He and Daisy started down the next tunnel, hoping to lose them at the next intersection. Starting to run out of breath, Luigi slowed down and looked behind him. The mob of enemies was still after them. It seemed that no matter where Luigi and Daisy ran, the mob eventually sought them out. Now it occurred to Luigi that they were trying to outrun them.

Just past the next intersection, Luigi noticed a boulder at the side of the tunnel. He quickly dashed behind it, pulling Daisy with him. He sat down to catch his breath after finally losing the angry mob. Daisy sat down next to him, also looking exhausted. However, it was only minutes before the sounds of the enemies’ running feet echoed through the tunnel ahead. Luigi annoyingly sighed, still reluctant to run again.

“Mama mia…there must be some way to get those goons out of our hair,” he said.

“But what are we going to do? There’s too many of them for us to handle by ourselves,” Daisy pointed out. Luigi frantically looked around for ideas and soon noticed a small, rocky ledge above him. The ceiling above the ledge was slightly cracked. Luigi smiled, knowing an idea was coming on. He turned to Daisy again, forgetting about being fatigued.

“I have an idea,” Luigi said. “I’ll go up there on that ledge and make the ceiling cave in on them. You keep them stalled for me.” Daisy nodded as Luigi pointed to the small elevated ledge above and came out from behind the boulder only to find the mob was already there. She started taunting them while Luigi Super Punched the ceiling above the ledge. It slowly cracked some more, eventually pouring pieces of cave in front of the entire mob. Daisy dashed out of the way, so as not to get hit. Luigi jumped down from the ledge to rejoin her.

“Haha! That ought to hold them for awhile!” Daisy exclaimed with cheer as she gave Luigi a high five. “We make a good team!”

“I agree!” Luigi replied with a smile. “Now let’s-a get out of here.” With that, the two ran off down the tunnels ahead. However, every tunnel appeared to be the same. It looked as if there was no escape and that Luigi and Daisy were merely going in circles. Pretty soon, Luigi spotted a lit opening in a later tunnel, showing the way out was ahead. He and Daisy quickly went through it only to find themselves on a mountain trail by a cliff. Nearby was a waterfall pouring into a flowing river below.

Realizing they must have ended up on a different side of the mountain, Luigi decided they had to hike around to the other side. Thinking by now the enemy mob wouldn’t find them, the two decided to slow down and take it easy back down the mountain. Daisy caught up with Luigi and walked beside him as the two passed below the waterfall.

“You know, that was a pretty neat setup back there, trapping those enemies like that,” she complimented. “I doubt even Kamek could pull a smart stunt like that on anyone, especially you.”

“Heh, thanks,” Luigi replied. “Mario always said I had good—” He halted in his tracks and cut himself off, finally realizing the whole idea behind Daisy’s capture.

“Wait a minute…That’s-a it! Kamek did try to do that!” he exclaimed. “And Bowser Jr. was in on it!”

“What?” Daisy wondered, turning around to face Luigi.

“Don’t you see? They used you to get to me,” Luigi explained. He then said that Bowser Jr. didn’t kidnap Daisy simply because she was helping him or to solely get revenge on Luigi for beating him in the forest, but to actually lure Luigi up the mountain to Kamek, where the two would try to stop him from finding Bowser. Kamek’s Peach disguise was only to provoke Luigi into further focusing on Daisy by tricking him into thinking Bowser was no longer an issue when saying Peach and Mario escaped from him. Kamek actually knew Luigi wouldn’t believe Mario was in Toad Town. He was really trying to trick Luigi into thinking he was the real Peach and that that was proof enough of hers and Mario’s escape and that Peach was merely mistaking Mario’s location.

“Their plan started working,” Luigi went on. “But then I outsmarted them.”

“Well, of all the nerve,” Daisy replied in an annoyed tone. “You did a good job of outsmarting those two, though. That’s some plan.”

“Really,” Luigi agreed. “Thanks, though. You helped me figure it out.”

“No problem,” Daisy said with a smile. “Still, I definitely despise the idea of being Luigi bait.” Luigi laughed at Daisy’s comment.

“Seriously, who would want to be bait for someone else?” he said. “The only thing I don’t understand, though, is why Kamek didn’t mention Yoshi. He was captured as well.”

“Yoshi? Oh, that dinosaur friend of yours that Mario has mentioned to me a few times,” Daisy replied. “That is a good question.” Luigi nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, him,” he said. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll hang on.

“…Well, if you say so.”

There was a pause as the two kept going past the waterfall and started down a sloping mountain trail. Daisy peered up at the night sky, which was clear enough to see thousands of stars. The full moon lit the sky overhead, shining down upon all of Mushroom Kingdom. As she kept looking, Daisy let out a tired yawn. Luigi heard her and looked around to notice her developing sleepiness and smiled.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s late and I’ve been up and about all day, not to mention all that running we did back there was exhausting,” Daisy replied.

“Don’t blame you, but try traveling all day and night looking for Battle Stars,” Luigi said with a slight chuckle. “I’m getting really beat. Which reminds me, do I smell at all?” Daisy halted and gave Luigi a confused look, forgetting about being sleepy. Luigi went pink in the cheeks, realizing he asked a strange question.

“Well, now that you mention it, you do smell a little funny,” Daisy replied, trying not to make Luigi look dumb for asking. “Why?”

“Uh…this is going to sound silly, but…” Luigi began in a nervous tone. He explained to Daisy the whole haunted mansion situation and how the ghosts shoved him into a garbage dumpster. Forgetting that he reeked of trash, Luigi came back to Toad Town smelling like he hadn’t washed up in ages. He didn’t realize it until Toad found him by his house and pointed it out. By now, the odor must have faded somewhat.

“Oh, haha. I believe you,” Daisy assured. “Sometimes the enemy—”

Suddenly, a rumbling noise cut Daisy off. Luigi looked up above to see a rockslide heading straight for their path. The two of them attempted to get out of the way, but the rocks tumbled down and crashed into the mountain trail, causing another rockslide below. Luigi stumbled and fell over, catching the edge of the remainder of the path with his right hand. Daisy started to fall below, but Luigi grabbed her hand with his other hand just in time. The two just hung there, unable to do much at all. Luigi looked up again and saw Kamek’s angry mob at the top of the path above.

“Not them again…” he groaned.

“Ugh…don’t those guys ever give up?” Daisy asked.

“I wish. But nevermind that, we’ve got to get out of this mess,” Luigi replied. “Just don’t let go!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!”

Luigi tightened his grip on the cliff as he desperately tried to think of something. Suddenly, a breeze started blowing, making it harder for Luigi to keep his grip. Unable to hold on to it, his hat was blown off his head and plunged down to the foot of the mountain below. Luigi looked back and watched as his only trademark belonging disappeared below him. Daisy attempted to grab it for him, but the hat flew by so quickly, she barely missed it.

“Aw great…” Luigi said with a groan. Before he could think anymore, he found a couple of Koopas standing on the path directly above him. They started stepping on his hand in attempt to make him let go.

“Ouch!”

“What’s going on?” Daisy asked from below.

“They’re trying to push my hand off!” Luigi replied. Before the two could say anymore, a Goomba came to the Koopas’ aid and shoved Luigi’s hand away from the cliff. After failing to grab the cliff again, the two plunged down below. Without thinking, Daisy let go of Luigi’s hand and grabbed onto him by his neck and closed her eyes in fear. Noticing a rope bridge below, Luigi quickly tossed fireballs at it and broke it. He grabbed the remaining ropes and before he knew it, he and Daisy were swinging right towards the wall of the cliff.

“Hey, watch out for the—!” Daisy began. Before she could finish, Luigi slammed into the rocky wall and mistakenly let go of the rope. Not noticing, Daisy let go of Luigi and grabbed it herself. She tried to grab him once more, but was too late and gasped as Luigi fell into the thin river below and washed up on the shore near the waterfall. Worried whether he was alright, she didn’t notice the angry mob appear at one end of the bridge on the path and start to break the rope. It wasn’t until it broke that she saw them and began falling below.

Luigi then sat up at the edge of the water only to see Daisy with broken rope, plunging straight down towards his location. He quickly scrambled to his fatigued feet and caught Daisy in his arms, only to fall back into the cliff wall behind him. His grip loosened as he began collapsing to the ground. Soon, Daisy found herself sitting on his lap and quickly got up. She kneeled down to Luigi’s level in hopes that he was okay.

“Luigi!” Daisy exclaimed. “Are you alright?” Luigi didn’t answer.

Instead, he just lay there, breathing lightly and looking bruised. Daisy felt tears coming to her eyes. Luigi had just let himself get seriously hurt to save her. In just seconds, however, Luigi slowly sat up, grimacing from the pain he had taken. His right hip hurt the most from slamming into the cliff.

“Don’t…worry,” he stammered. “I’ll be fine. Are you alright?”

“Yeah…thanks to you,” Daisy replied with a smile. Luigi returned the smile and slowly stood up. He stumbled from the pain in his left leg, for he’d fallen on it after letting go of the rope. Daisy helped him regain his balance.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just need to take a little rest before—” Luigi began. “Oh no…the star! I never found it!”

“Oh, you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking are you?” Daisy asked. “You can’t go after it now. Not in the condition you’re in!” Luigi had other ideas.

“But I have to…” he replied, still in pain. “I’ll take a short rest before I go.” With that, Luigi plopped back down against the rocky wall and decided to sit there for a few minutes. With the breeze in his hair now, having his hat off felt strange. Luigi hoped he hadn’t lost it for good or that the hat didn’t land in the river. If it had landed there, the river would have pulled it downstream to who knows where.

“Hey, don’t worry too much about your hat,” Daisy said, sensing Luigi’s thoughts. “I’m sure if it went downstream, someone down that way will find it.”

“Yeah, I hope you’re right,” Luigi replied. “Mario and I have had those hats since we were babies. Come to think of it, he’d go through the roof if he found out I lost mine.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find it before Mario even suspects a thing,” Daisy assured. “Besides, I think you look better with it off.” She shot Luigi a friendly smile.

“Thanks.” As Luigi continued to sit there, he returned Daisy’s smile. While he sat there resting and the parts of his clothes that had gotten wet from the river were drying, he listened to the waterfall falling into the water nearby. Daisy was looking up at the night sky, seemingly admiring the stars and full moon ahead. Earlier, the sky was cloudy, and Luigi must not have noticed it cleared up. Just seeing Daisy there with him made him begin to feel better. She turned around to face him again.

“Hey by the way, Mario once told me that you were heroic like him…just in a different way,” Daisy said. “And you know…he’s right. You are a hero. My hero.” She smiled at Luigi again. Luigi couldn’t help but let his cheeks turn a blushing red. It was now obvious to him that Daisy already really liked him.

“Ah, it was nothing. I really couldn’t let you get hurt. Not like I did,” Luigi replied, smiling again. “You’ve been a big help. And besides-a that…you’re…my friend, and I care.”

“Aren’t you a sweetie.”

“Heh, thanks. well, I feel well enough to get going,” Luigi said, changing the subject. “You wait here. You should be safe behind the waterfall. No one will see you there.”

“Right,” Daisy replied. “Be careful up there. I care too.”

“I will. Those two goons up there won’t know what hit them.” With that, Luigi left and headed for the mountain trail again. Daisy watched as he disappeared around the corner to return to the summit. She sat there in hopes he was right about being able to handle Kamek and Bowser Jr. by himself and in his condition. All she could do was wait.


And this is where I left off...*sigh*

Just a friendly reminder of the rules regarding asking for comments:

4) It is okay to ask for comments, but please only do so once. As a rule of thumb, repeatedly asking for people to go review your work is generally frowned upon. We all want people to come and comment on our writings and artwork; if you really want people to comment on your work, take time to comment on other people's work. Comments will come in time; not everyone has something worthwhile to say the first time they look at something, be it a scribble of a Link plushie or a drabble about mailboxes.

Don't fret too much, Crystal, sometimes people comment and sometimes they don't. Perhaps spacing out the posting of your chapters might encourage some comments? Waiting a few days for people to come by before posting the next chapter could help as it's a bit easier for them to digest a smaller piece of writing. If someone were to come along now, there's eleven chapters for them to get through which might put people off. So yeah, just leaving a few days between postings might give people a bit more of a chance to read and comment. : )

Don't let lack of comments get you down, the most important thing is that you enjoy writing itself.

Keep writing!

But I did wait awhile before posting some chapters...

If I didn't wait long enough, then people are slow readers lol. I waited a day after I put up the first two chapters. That wasn't a lot to read then.

But fine. I haven't been in the mood to work on the story lately anyway.