It was a quiet, cloudy spring night in the Mushroom Kingdom, where the Mario brothers slept peacefully in their cottage in the woods. The air outside was warm and humid, but inside it was nice and cool. The little wooden house was silent and picturesque, almost perfect-

-Until a rapid, loud knocking came to the door. The racket woke Mario from his slumber, but he stayed in bed to see if they would leave. When the knocking persisted, he reluctantly got up and stumbled through the darkness.

As he opened the door, it hit something made of metal, producing a loud clash as it fell over. Mario looked at the ground and saw a soldier from the Beanbean Kingdom lying on the ground. He was unconscious and breathing shallow breaths.

A Beanish soldier?Mario thought. What's he doing all the way out here?

"Eh, Bro," Luigi groaned, suddenly behind him. "What's with all the noise? It's three in the-" He glanced down at the ground. "Is he dead?!"

With the sound of inward rushing air, Dimentio teleported next to the brothers. A few months back, he had come back to life through a deal with Queen Jaydes and decided to hang around Luigi and Mario. He was more of a nuisance than anything else.

"I heard screaming," Dimentio said cheerfully. "Is there a fire?"

Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "Oh, there seems to be a comatose Beanish man on the ground! How did this happen..." He glanced at the brothers. "...Luigi?"

"What? Why are you blaming me?!" Luigi demanded. "I just woke up."

"Yes, but you do have an interest in Beanish men," Dimentio said, glancing at his hands.

Mario rolled his eyes. Dimentio loved to get Luigi riled up and angry, for some reason or another.

He noticed that the soldier was clutching a piece of paper in his hand. He knelt down near the sleeping man and gently pulled the paper out of his hand. After a bit of work uncrumpling it, he managed to read the smeared writing on the paper: "TO: LUIGI. FROM: BEANISH ROYAL GUARD. URGENT! READ AND REPLY WITH HASTE!"

Huh, so it's a letter. Wonder why they couldn't have just sent this through the mail, Mario thought. He stood up and tapped Luigi on the arm.

"As if you're any better-" Luigi stopped yelling and looked down. "Oh, was he holding that?" he asked at a normal volume. Mario nodded. "Alright, let's see here..."

He read the letter aloud: "Dear Luigi, we send this letter with dire news. Our dearest Prince Peasley has been kidnapped," he turned pale, but kept reading. "We have already sent two search parties, neither of which have returned after two weeks. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as you know. Please come to the castle ASAP. Bring your brother if you think he will be necessary. With hope, the Beanish Royal Guard. P.S.: If our messenger comes in person, please tell him never to do that again, as the captain has said multiple times now. We know your mail system is much more efficient than sprinting from one kingdom to another..."

Luigi folded the paper up again. "The rest is just a monologue about the messenger being a hot head."

"Well, this is unexpected," Dimentio said. "Usually it's Peach."

"Yeah, really," Luigi said, still pale. "I need to get prepared. If he's been gone for two weeks-"

"Wait, are you going alone?" Mario asked suddenly.

Luigi sighed. "Well, I feel like I should do this on my own! I mean, the letter was addressed to me, and I never really get a chance to do anything by myself, so..."

"If you think you're ready," Mario said.

"I... I think I am."

Mario hugged him tightly."Good luck," he whispered.

After a long, anxious plane flight - once again, much faster than running from the Mushroom Kingdom, through the borderlands, and into the Beanbean Kingdom – he arrived at the castle. He was quickly brought in by the castle guards and brought to the captain of the Royal Guard.

"Ah, you're here," the captain said, almost as if he wanted to follow with 'Took you long enough'.

"So, did Ryelie run all the way there?" he asked conversationally. "The messenger, I mean."

"Um, yes, sir," Luigi said. The captain was always intimidating to Luigi. His stare could cut diamonds.

The captain rolled his eyes. "'Course he did. Well, here's the situation," he said without hesitation. "Peasley, as you know, was kidnapped, by some...foul creatures. They headed south, into uncharted territory. We sent two search parties - once again, you know this already - and they haven't come back." He grimaced. "Well, one member of the first party did, but not in a good way. He had fled the search and ended up half-mad. That's why we sent the second party- to find our prince and the others."

"How many people were sent, sir?" Luigi asked nervously.

"All together...? Fifty men."

Fifty?! Luigi thought, his heart pounding. "That's...horrible," he said.

The captain nodded.

"So, what are these 'foul creatures'?" Luigi asked, eager to move on from the subject.

"Eh..." The captain looked around the room they were in. "Hey, Liman!" he barked at one of the soldiers.

"Yes, sir!" Liman answered.

"Can you show Luigi the...creature?"

"Yes, sir..." Liman said, much more hesitant.

Liman led Luigi down to the previously destroyed dungeon.

"Uh, we have to keep it down here so it doesn't escape," Liman explained.

"Okay. When did you repair the dungeon?" Luigi asked.

"Last month. Took a while, but ten tons of cement can really work wonders," Liman said with a laugh.

As the two descended, Liman lit a torch and carried it in front of him. The light made the gloomy atmosphere somehow more and less creepy at the same time. This dungeon wasn't musty or humid like you would expect from one, but rather dry and covered in a thin layer of plaster dust.

"So... You're sure this is stable?" Luigi asked nervously.

"Yeah, should be," Liman said, then frowned. "Makes a body wonder, though."

"Wonder what?"

"I never actually saw them repair the dungeon, so I don't know how they did it. How did they do it?" he said.

"I... I wouldn't know."

They reached a door at the bottom of the stairwell, and beyond it was the prison cells. A loud groaning came from the end of the room.

"We had to get all of the other prisoners out of here so they didn't panic," Liman explained.

"Panic?"

"Yeah. The, um, creature tends to make people freak out." Liman avoided eye contact.

"Oh. Good," Luigi said sarcastically. "I'm guessing it's all the way in the back?"

Liman nodded, slightly pale. "Yes," he said hoarsely.

The two approached the end of the hallway slowly and carefully. The groaning was doubtlessly coming from the last cell. It sounded like an animal in pain, almost pitiful if it weren't so loud and low.

Luigi peered through the bars of the cell and saw only darkness. He leaned closer to them and said to himself, "Weird, I don't see anything-"

Something grotesque slammed itself against the bars and screeched, "LEAVE!"

Luigi screamed and jumped back, clutching his chest. "W-What the- What in the world-!" He sputtered, trying to get the air back in his lungs.

"I said, leave!" the creature screamed.

"Gah! It hasn't talked before," Liman said with horror and astonishment.

Upon closer inspection, the creature looked like something that was a toad, but covered in black bumps that seemed to move in the light. Its eyes were pure yellow, no pupils.

"What happened to you...?" Luigi muttered.

"Hadn't had anyone worth talking to!" it hissed at Liman. It turned its gross, scowling eyes on Luigi. "But you, you're different from these people!"

"You wouldn't believe how often I hear that," Luigi said.

The toad went on, ignoring Luigi's remark. "The one who I serve, he has a vendetta against you! He wants you dead more than most, and he hates many!"

"Okay, but why... What happened to your skin?" Luigi asked.

"All of the people that kidnapped the Prince looked like this. We think it's some sort of disease," Liman explained. "It wasn't just toads, either. There were koopas, goombas, even Beanish people."

"Really? That's crazy!" Luigi said with disbelief.

"Yes..." Liman said, thinking. "There was also someone else with them. A leader, I think."

"What did they look like?"

"They were short, and wore a mask like that of a plague doctor - you know, the ones that look like a bird's beak? - and wore a peasant's dress. That's all I can remember," Liman described, then shook his head. "It just amazes me that someone would have the gall to take our prince away like that."

"Wait a second, where's Queen Bean?" Luigi asked suddenly. "Hasn't she done anything?"

"She's the one who sent the search parties, and she...doesn't want to be spoken to right now. She's very distraught," Liman said, wringing his hands.

"Anyways, that's what kidnapped him. Let's get out of this creepy dungeon-" he continued.

"Wait!" the toad shrieked. "Are you going to go after that prince?"

"Yeah," Luigi said.

The toad suddenly started laughing, so much that it shook. "There's no way you'd ever survive! The one I serve has sent horrible monsters to block your way there for miles, enough to kill and intimidate any sane man!"

For a moment, Luigi was scared. Was he sure he could do this? Then, cold hard determination filled his heart. "Alright," he said with a shrug. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Really? And what makes you think that?"

"Because," Luigi thought for a moment. "Because, I'm Luigi! And I can take down anything that stands in my way! God strike me down if I can't!"

Liman, behind Luigi's back, nervously glanced upward. Nothing happened. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Besides, if it's for Peasley - and the rest of the Beanbean Kingdom, - I'll do anything!" Luigi finished confidently.

The toad stared at him. Instead of speaking, it backed away into the darkness of its cell.

"Hello?" Liman called. "Guess it's done talking."

"Guess so. Should I try and ask it for directions to where they took Peasley, or...?" Luigi asked.

"No, I wouldn't try," Liman shook his head. "He doesn't seem like the obeying type."

With awkward small talk, the two ascended to the ground floor of the castle. Luigi bid his goodbyes to those in the Royal Guard, and started on his journey southward.

"I will find him," he muttered to himself as the Beanbean kingdom became smaller and smaller in the distance behind him. "I will see him again."

"Oh, why the long face, Mario?" Dimentio asked the man in red, leaning on the table.

Mario didn't answer, only stared off into space.

Dimentio sighed. "Come on, don't be like that," he said, putting his hand on Mario's shoulder. "You can tell me anything. I'm great with secrets, you know."

Mario glared at him. "Don't touch me," he grumbled.

Dimentio took his hand off of Mario's shoulder. "Fine then," he muttered. "Don't say anything. Probably nothing I could help with, anyway."

Mario sighed. "I'm just worried about Luigi," he murmured and put his head in his hands.

Dimentio smirked with satisfaction. He was getting somewhere.

Dimentio didn't want to be enemies with Mario- Heck, who did? -but he didn't want to be friends with him either. What he really wanted was some way to get closer to Luigi. And what better way to do that then to get on his big, idolized brother's good side?

"Well, I'm sure he can do fine on his own," Dimentio said assuredly. "I mean, he built a giant death robot from scratch, he's pretty smart."

"I know, I know." He sighed again. "I just wish someone could, you know, keep tabs on him or something."

Dimentio thought for a minute. "I could do that," he said.

Mario looked up at him suddenly. "You-You could?"

"Well, of course! I mean, it'd be pretty easy. Just watch him from the shadows and such," Dimentio said. It would probably be a lot harder than he was making it sound, but he didn't want Mario to know that.

Mario shook his head. "No, no, he doesn't need anyone to watch him... I shouldn't..."

"It wouldn't be any trouble. He would hardly even know I was there!" Dimentio said convincingly.

"But you don't even know which way he went-"

Mario was interrupted by a loud groaning from the other room. Mario had dragged the Beanish soldier inside and laid him down on his bed while he was asleep so the poor man didn't freeze. Appearently, he was awake.

"Hey," Dimentio called over to the soldier. "Where did the search parties going after Prince Peasley go?"

"South..." he moaned sleepily.

"Then I'll go south!" Dimentio said with a satisfied smile.

"Okay, then," Mario said. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

Mario suddenly grabbed Dimentio by the collar and pulled him down to his level. "Don't come back until Luigi comes home safe, you hear me?"

Dimentio nodded quickly. "Y-Yes, of course-"

"Promise!" Mario's eyes were full of fire.

"I promise! Calm down, let go of my shirt, please..."

Luigi walked for a long time and didn't spot any enemies, or either of the search parties, both of which worried him. Am I going the right way? he wondered.

Eventually, as it usually happened, the sky began to darken as the sun set. Luigi set up a small camp - or rather, set his suit case down in an area with fewer trees than others and sat with it – and tried to relax.

Okay. You're on your way. Just gotta make it past hoards of horrifying monsters that used to be people and rescue Peasley from whoever's powerful enough to control all of those disgusting things, Luigi thought.

He covered his face in this hands. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm gonna die out here," he said aloud.

Between his fingers, he saw something moving within the trees. It looked humanoid, but who knew what it really was? He reached slowly for a small rock and held it for a few seconds, waiting to see if the figure would go away. It didn't. He threw the rock at it.

It made a direct hit. The figure cried out in pain, "Son of a bitch!"

Luigi recognized the voice, but still hoped he was wrong. He walked up to the now doubled over figure anyway.

Sure enough, just as he thought, he saw Dimentio. He was on the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning pathetically.

"Dimentio, why are you here?" Luigi demanded.

Dimentio looked up. "Oh, hello there. There's a very good explanation for all of this, if you'll listen."

"Go ahead. I'm listening," Luigi said impatiently.

"You see, your brother was worried about you, and he said-"

"Seriously?!" Luigi groaned. "I'm not a kid, I don't need anyone watching me."

"And he said that he wished that someone could keep tabs on you, so I offered to-"

"I mean, really? I've done things on my own before."

"And he made me promise that I wouldn't come back until you come home safe," Dimentio finished, and stood up. "You weren't really listening, were you?"

"Oh, I was, trust me," Luigi grumbled. "Well, you're here now, so you might as well help me out."

"Well, I- Wait, what was that?" Dimentio said,

"I said, that since you're already here, you might as well help me," Luigi repeated. "You obviously wanted to help, so why not just accompany me instead of spying on me?"

Dimentio stared at him. "You mean, like a partnership?"

"Uh, sure. Why not?" Luigi shrugged.

Dimentio grinned widely. "Well, I'd like nothing more."