PROLOGUE...
After a quiet and peaceful night in the Mushroom Kingdom, the sun was finally rising over the tops of the Choco-Mountains on the distant horizon. As the sunlight shoved its way past the clouds in the sky, a few birds in a tree outside a small woodland cabin began to chirp away, welcoming the beautiful morning.
Inside the house, Mario, a short, stout little man, with a mustache thicker than the very woods of the nearby Mushroom Forest, was waking from a night of peaceful slumber. Mario tried slowly to open his eyes, but quickly shut them closed again as the rays from the morning sun burst brightly into the room from the bedroom window. He raised one hand in front of his face in effort to block the morning sunshine, letting his eyes adjust to the light. With his eyes now open, Mario rolled to the side of his bed where he peered over the edge of his upper bunk to see if his younger brother Luigi had already awoke. His brother’s bed was empty, but if the delightful smell his large nose had suddenly caught a whiff of was any indication, then he was glad to see he had awoken second. It seemed Luigi had made breakfast!
Mario kicked off what little blanket still covered him and climbed down the latter planting both feet on the hardwood floor. Mario took another whiff of the aroma that had now completely filled the bedroom. He stretched out his arms, let out a slight yawn and decided he would make an effort to see if Luigi’s breakfast tasted as good as it smelled. Mario opened the door to the kitchen and saw, to his delight, several strips of crisp bacon laid out on the table and a stack of fresh golden-brown pancakes smothered in syrup just waiting to be eaten. But before Mario could sit down and enjoy this delightful surprise, the front door burst open. Running in from outside was Luigi, frantically wailing what appeared to be an envelope in the air.
Luigi, now standing, panting in the doorway, took a few moments to catch his breath. As He collected himself, Mario slowly shifted his eyes from the sight of his wheezing brother in the doorway to the plate of uneaten pancakes still sitting on the kitchen table. But before Mario could make a move to satisfy his growling stomach, Luigi finally spoke.
“Hey, Mario! We got a letter from Princess Peach!” he said just short of breath.
Mario, who would normally be overjoyed that a letter from the beautiful Princess Peach had made its way into their mailbox, was simply too hungry and too distracted by the sight of a delicious breakfast to pay much attention to the letter. As Luigi waited for a response from his brother, Mario reached out to the plate of pancakes and without hesitation, wolfed down half the stack in a single gulp.
Luigi, remembering the effect Mario’s appetite had on his decision making, ignored his brother’s quest to devour the very breakfast he himself had unselfishly cooked up.
Luigi rolled his eyes and tore open the letter.
“All right, let’s see…” he said to himself.
Luigi began reading the letter aloud to his brother, who continued to scarf down pancake after pancake, pausing only to slip in the occasional piece of bacon.
“My dearest Mario and Luigi, I’m throwing a party at my castle today! I would be honored if you could both attend. Many guests from distant towns are hoping to meet you. There will be tasty sweets and all kinds of entertainment! I hope to see you here soon! Sincerely, Peach.”
Luigi put down the letter only to find that his brother was no longer in the kitchen. Mario had disappeared into the bedroom, leaving a pancake in mid-bite to drop to the floor. As soon as Luigi had read the words “tasty sweets” Mario realized the amount of food that would be awaiting them at the castle.
Luigi gathered the bits and pieces of breakfast his brother had failed to finish and began to eat. As he ate, Mario re-entered the kitchen, his nose held high, and sat down at the table. As Luigi looked up at his brother, his delight turned to disgust. Mario was wasting no time in preparing to meet the princess as he continuously ran a comb through his thick mustache. Luigi pushed his plate aside, no longer hungry.
After cleaning up the kitchen, the brothers dressed themselves in the finest pair of overalls they owned and headed out the door, leaving their peaceful little home behind them.
The brothers’ house, located on the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom, is virtually inaccessible when traveling on foot. Surrounded by the thick Mushroom Forest, the house is secluded deep in the woods. With no road traveling to or from the brothers’ small woodland cabin, there is only one method of travel to reach the world beyond the brothers’ front lawn.
Sitting on the edge of the yard, just before the first wall of trees leading into the Mushroom Forest, is a large pipe sticking straight out of the ground. Slightly rusted and covered in moss, the green pipe is large enough for a person of average size to fit in. The pipe is the brother’s sole gateway to the outside world.
Known in the Mushroom Kingdom as a “warp pipe,” little is known about this unique method of transportation. It is said to be powered solely by the magic of the Mushroom Kingdom itself. Stories of Mushroom folklore, passed from toad to toad, say it was through a warp pipe that Mario and Luigi were brought into the lands of the Mushroom Kingdom from a foreign world. There is little truth behind the story’s details however, as the brothers seldom speak of times before their arrival to the Mushroom Kingdom…but that is a story for another day.
The brothers took one last look at their peaceful little home behind them, their thoughts shifting to the busy streets of Toad Town. The brothers jumped in, first Mario and then Luigi. And then they were gone.
With the news that Princess Peach was throwing a party, the citizens of Toad Town were frantic with glee. The various shop owners had prepared their stores for the many visitors from far off lands while the local inn keeper had made sure each and every one of his rooms were spotless, suitable for friendly foreign visitors.
As the Toad children played in the town center, no doubt acting out adventures of Mario and Luigi, they caught sight of two adventures emerging out of the warp pipe near the entrance of town. The children gasped, but to their delight, they were now in the company of the very heroes they themselves were pretending to be.
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