Super Mario Universe

6 | Finding Luigi

Mario and Rosalina tumbled out onto a prairie. They looked behind them, but nothing was there. Not even the door!

"We're here!" Mario yelled in delight.

Rosalina looked around. They were on a nearly-mowed grass field, with windmills around them with fountains showing an ancient great bird. The sky was blue, and there was a gentle breeze blowing through.

Mario looked at a sign beside him. "Zeekeeper Park," he read.

They got up. "Well, what now?" Rosalina asked. "Where is Luigi?"

"I wish I still had my phone, but I left it in the Mushroom Kingdom," Mario rolled his eyes. "We should go get someone to help us."

The two of them started to walk through Zeekeeper Park. It was pretty, and full of people, but no one seemed helpful to Mario or Rosalina.

Finally after a few hours Mario had almost given up when he heard someone yell his name out of a crowd.

"Mario! Mario! Is that really you?! Mario!" the voice called.

Mario shot up like a rocket. "Who's there??" he asked.

Suddenly, a person...or thing flew out of the crowd. Mario couldn't believe who it was! She was a big yellow ball with a star atop her head which housed big black eyes.

"Starlow??!!" Mario gasped in shock.

Starlow flew over into Mario's arms. "I can't believe your here!" she said.

"Me neither!" Mario said. "How is this possible?"

Starlow shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you are," she said. "It seems every time I vacation in the Pi'illo Kingdom I run into you!"

Rosalina, who was just acting awkward, gave a shy wave.

"This is Rosalina," Mario told Starlow. "And we're both glad to see you! You can help us!"

"Why are you all here?" Starlow asked.

"Long story short, Bowser has taken over the Mushroom Kingdom, and Luigi is being held here," Mario explained. "We need to find Luigi and get back home before anything REAL bad happens."

"Luigi?" Starlow asked. "I just saw him earlier! He was looking for you, Mario!"

"Really???!!!" Mario smiled. "Where is he?!"

"Why don't I take you guys to him?" Starlow asked. "My treat."

"Yes!" Rosalina laughed. "Please!"

So Starlow took Mario and Rosalina on a walk to Luigi.

In case you're confused, Starlow is an old friend of Mario's who helped Mario on one of his adventures, when he went to the Pi'illo Kingdom the first time.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Mario asked.

"Luigi's at the palace," Starlow said. "I'm taking you two to him for your little reunion."

Along the way to the palace, Mario explained who Rosalina was to Starlow, what had happened with Bowser invading the Mushroom Kingdom, and Bowser Jr.'s wanting of an Ultimate Star.

Finally, after what seemed like a million years, Mario arrived at Pi'illo Castle, the royal palace of the kingdom.

Starlow pushed open the grand door.

"Ooh!!" Rosalina said, looking around. "Dreamy!"

The castle was very big, with ancient yet modern architecture surrounding monuments to the ancient days of the Pi'illo Kingdom.

Starlow flew up to the throne. "You're not gonna believe who I found in Zeekeeper Park!"

A fairy, or thing flew of the throne to Starlow and the others. "Mario!" it said.

"Prince Dreambert," Mario bowed. "How nice to see you again, even under these circumstances..."

"Nice to see you too, Mario," Prince Dreambert said. "I haven't heard from you at ALL since we last saw each other. No post cards, no emails, no texts, none of that. So for all I knew you were dead!"

"I must apologize. But either way, we need to see Luigi!" Mario yelled.

"Ah, yes. Luigi," Dreambert said slyly. "Luigi is here, but he's asleep..."

"Oh goodness," Starlow said. "He mustn't be asleep too much. They have to get back to the Mushroom Kingdom soon!"

"Why don't you three go wake him up?" the prince asked. "He's in the Royal guest room on the second floor."

"Thank you!" Mario said, running past Dreambert to the second floor. The problem was, there were SO MANY rooms! There had to be like 500!

"Which one is Luigi in?" Rosalina said. Then she perked up. "Do you all hear that?"

And Rosalina did hear something. There were snores coming from one of the rooms! But which one? "I'll take this section of rooms," Mario said. "Starlow can go to the ones over there, and Rosalina can take the ones way back there."

"We need to hurry," Rosalina said. "Every minute counts."

So Mario, Rosalina and Starlow split up finding Luigi. Pretty soon they all go confused, because the snoring seemed to change direction almost every minute.

"This is impossible!" Rosalina cried in agony.

"Guys!" Mario called. "I found Luigi--wait!"

Rosalina and Starlow rushed to Mario. "That's not Luigi!" Starlow said.

And she was right. It wasn't Luigi...but a record player set to the tune of snoring?

"What kind of place is this?" Rosalina asked. "They seem to love sleeping!"

"Mario?!" came a voice from behind them.

Mario turned around. "LUIGI!!" he said.

Luigi walked over to the group. "What are you--her--and her doing here?!" he asked.

"Rosalina and I came here to rescue you," Mario said. "Things have gotten worse in the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm afraid."

"What?" Luigi asked. "I've kept up with the news, but it doesn't seem like anything's happening..."

Mario sat down and explained to Luigi everything that had happened since they last saw each other.

"Uh huh," Luigi nodded. "Oh, no! Hahaha! That's horrible! That's so weird! Oh, that's a boring part."

"So you're caught up," Starlow said. "You, Rosalina and Mario need to get out of here. How are you going to?"

"Lumastein mentioned something about a Golden Pipe in this kingdom, didn't he?" Mario asked Rosalina. "We need to find it!"

"Why don't you ask Prince Dreambert?" Luigi recommended. "He'll know if one's really in the Pi'illo Kingdom."

"Great idea!" Mario said to the others. "Come on, let's go!"

The four of them ran back down to the throne room.