When the Cowardly Lion Roars

Here We Go Again

Part II: 2013

Twelve years elapsed between the adventure that changed my life and the adventure that changed my views on the paranormal, and those twelve years had their ups and downs. I accompanied Mario on several more adventures, where I continued keeping to my vow to be there for him. When he fell ill with Bean Fever, I swallowed my fears and battled menacing monsters to obtain the cure. Whenever he was on his last legs during a battle, I tossed him a healing item. I learned how to manipulate and control lightning and quickly mastered a new technique called the Thunderhand. I even tricked a few bad guys by cross-dressing as Peach! In return, Mario demonstrated his loyalty toward me by standing up to an entity known as the Star Gate when they encouraged him to leave me behind. We even got to interact with our baby selves! Make no mistake, those interim twelve years kept us on our toes.

However, Mario and I came across some rough patches along the way. In 2004, during a tennis tournament, Mario and I faced off in the singles bracket finals, and I emerged the victor. During the awards ceremony, Mario walked over, seemingly congratulatory, only to step on my foot! I was stunned, hurt, saddened and quite angry over Mario's behavior, and I gave him the silent treatment for a few days before we talked things out. After the routine rescue missions, Mario would get all of the credit, but I'd swallow back the envy, because I knew my bro appreciated my help.

Throughout these adventures, the MK stayed up-to-date on new technology. By 2013, almost every Toad had a smartphone and at least one social media account. Videos and video clips were constantly uploaded to YouTube. Instead of portable CD players and iPods, we could stream music directly from apps on our phones. Thanks to these technological advances, the MK was better prepared for the regular "visits" from the Koopa Kingdom.

As for Professor Gadd, I remained in touch with him, calling him, texting him, friending him on Facebook, following him on Twitter and visiting his lab whenever I stayed at my new mansion. I also had regular maintenance done on the Poltergust 3000 and stopped by Gadd's gallery to make sure King Boo was still in that portrait. If or when that fiend escaped, I needed to be ready. I knew he wouldn't hesitate to go after Mario again. Gadd tried to reassure me that he was keeping a close eye on King Boo, but I wasn't about to take any chances.

In 2009, Professor Gadd decided to depart Boo Woods and travel around in search of more ghosts to study. He invited me and Mario to a small goodbye party, where we reminisced about our first meeting and my bro and I wished him well. Following his departure, Gadd and I exchanged phone calls and letters, and in 2011, he announced that he'd settled in a place called Evershade Valley. Since then, our correspondence was less frequent, as we were both busy with research and defending a kingdom, respectively.

But that all changed on a spring night in March 2013...

...

I was in my mansion, reclining on my La-Z-Boy and watching some prime-time programs on TV, eventually dozing off. When I woke up, the color-bar test pattern was on my TV screen. While most TV stations in the MK had long since switched to 24-hour programming, a few stations still went off the air overnight.

Still a bit groggy, I slid off the La-Z-Boy and went to change the channel—only to be startled by Professor Gadd's face!

"Luigi!" he cried urgently.

"J—s C—st!" I exclaimed, falling flat on my [bleep] and scuttling backwards a short distance.

"Thank God the signal got through! Listen, sonny, I need your help! The ghosts have turned hostile!" Gadd exclaimed.