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"Really? That's the name of the book?" Bowser questioned.
Goombella just shrugged. "It's an autobiography."
"Of course it is," the Koopa King responded.
"We don't have time for this," Mario interjected. "Can you just summarize the book?"
"Well, about twenty years ago the King solely defended the Mushroom Kingdom from an alien invasion, back when he was a resident of the Beanbean Kingdom. Queen Peach fell in love with him, and about ten years later they got married. He also defeated the Royal Koopa Family when they waged war on the Mushroom Kingdom, managing to kill most of them. He erected Poppleville, the main town in the kingdom, and the massive Popple Castle, guarded by dark magic and the Beanstar. He's also, as the book says, 'the most awesome and heroic person you'll ever have the honor of meeting'."
"Well, that's a lot changed about the past," Mario stated. "How are we getting the Star Rod back if the castle is that protected?"
"We get it from the inside," Bowser responded, forming an idea.
"How are we going to do that?" Vivian questioned.
"Well, that's easy," Bowser replied. "With Peach. If we can kidnap her and somehow restore her memories, we can replant her in the castle and she can safely get the Star Rod."
Mario pondered for a second, but he had no other plans. "Well, it's a st-"
"MARIO!" a bloodcurdling scream rang out.
"W-who is that!?" Vivian yelped.
"Let's find out," Goombella replied, leading the others to the door. "Get ready, you might need to fight someone."
Suddenly, a bolt of blue lightning crashed through the window, shattering it and sending glass shards throughout the dorm.
"Is anybody hurt?" Vivian called out. She was met with a few instances of 'no' from around the room.
Mario walked over to the window and peered through it. He let out a gasp upon seeing what was going on outside, and leapt out the window.
-Thirty Minutes Earlier -
L approached the door cautiously, not knowing who could be on the other side. He prepared a ball of his blue lightning in one hand while reaching for the handle. On the other side, an emerald green Boo floated, with red ribbons with a gold trim on each side of her head. This was Lady Bow, one of Mario's friends from many years ago who got a kick out of terrorizing Luigi, who yelped from the confines of L's mind. L ignored all of this information, however, because he was enchanted by her beauty.
"Well, what brings a stunningly gorgeous Boo like you here? I must be one very lucky man..." L said, being very flirty and acting on pure impulse.
"W-w-what?" Lady Bow responded. Her face went a little red and she turned slightly, trying to hide it. On the inside, her thoughts raged at intense speeds.
D-did Luigi just... FLIRT with me? Isn't he terrified of me? Like, I guess he's cute and all... wait, did I like it? Oh Stars, I liked it when Luigi flirted with me! Oh... oh my...
A similar battle raged in L's head as well.
Did you just flirt with Lady Bow!? Are you insane!?
Game is game.
DUDE!
Well, you have to admit, she's beautiful.
I-I guess, but she's terrifying! And she hates me!
Have you noticed? She's blushing AND she's trying to hide it. She's into me.
Us.
Oh, so NOW it's 'us'. I guess you're interested too.
Fine, maybe I am. But don't screw this up, or she'll kill us with no hesitation.
Like I would.
L decided to break the silence with even more flirting. "Honey, I can see you blushing. There's no need to hide it."
Lady Bow was taken aback and blushing even more than before. "D-don't call me 'honey'!"
"What, you don't like it?"
"Shut up."
The two of them looked at each other with red cheeks, not knowing how to progress the situation. Luckily, Bow remembered why she was here.
"So, have you seen Mario around?" she asked L.
"No. I was just about to look for him," L responded. Suddenly, he got an idea on how he could spend a little time with the Boo. "Say, why don't we go look for him? Together?"
"Smooth," Bow said teasingly, rolling her eyes. "But sure. Let's go."
The two ventured out into Toad Town, in search of a red plumber. It wasn't long before they ran into trouble, though. On the outskirts of Toad Town, Lady Bow stopped L from moving any further.
"Hold on," the Boo commanded. L stopped as instructed, much to her amusement. "Good boy. Now look at the sign."
"What did you just call me!?"
"Did I stutter? Now, look at the sign."
Looking at the sign, L noticed that the quaint sign that used to read 'Toad Town' now read 'Poppleville'.
Bow was confused by the sign. "What happened to Toad Town, and what the hell is a Poppleville?"
"Popple..." L trailed off.
What did he do?
It's the Star Rod, man. He could have done anything.
"Who?" the Boo questioned.
"A petty thief. Yesterday morning, he attacked the castle. We tried to stop him, but he had the Star Rod. Who knows what he's done, if he's reworked this place in his image."
"Hmm. I myself noticed something was off this morning when I decided to venture out to terrorize some Toads." Lady Bow proceeded to cackle at the thought of scaring the townsfolk. "But then I saw this sign. I didn't know what was going on, so I wanted to ask Mario about it. I thought it was some weird rebranding or something. But if this Popple guy has the Star Rod, he's a serious threat. We have to stop him."
"Agreed. That means we should definitely find Mario."
"Well, how are we gonna do that?"
"Friend Luigi! There you are!" called a voice from behind the two.
L looked behind him and saw Fawful, a dangerous enemy from years past. Not wanting to take chances, he allowed his hands to form two balls of electricity.
"Now is not the time for sparing! Fawful has been looking for you!"
"What do you want?" L spat out coldly.
"Friend Mario came by Fawful's shop earlier, and traveled away to some place called U-Goom. However, friend Luigi was not present with the rest of the bandits, so Fawful came to look for you! Here, take this."
Fawful proceeded to hand L a Warp Whistle.
"Fawful has to go attend to his shop, but will see you later! Bye!" he called out, scurrying away.
"How oddly convenient," Lady Bow noted. "But let's go find Mario."
L played the Warp Whistle to head to the Goomba University, but a figure ran towards them.
"MARIO!? WHERE!?" the figure screamed as there was a flash, and he jumped into the tornado with the two.