Chapter 3
"Oh, I am so glad our boys made it back home, safely," said the mother of the Mario Bros., who was also the queen of Mario Land. As a Mario, her hair was brown and curly and put back in a ponytail with a black hair-tie. Her eyes were blue as were those of her husband, who was tall and thin. His black, curly mustache formed an almost W-shape, since it "bumped" twice at the bottom. It was noon the next day and they were talking amongst themselves inside what they called their "home away from home", a mushroom house in a mushroom village, near the beachy outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom. The mother was holding Luigi while the husband was holding Mario.

"But why did they disappear?" asked the man.

"I have no idea. Perhaps it has something to do with a bird? I mean, we did come across those feathers in the other room."

"Does it matter, dear? The point is we got them back and we have nothing more to worry about. As far as I'm concerned, it could have been aliens that were behind their absences!"

"I suppose you're right, but I suppose I'm right, as well. There were feathers there and the news has been talking about space aliens recently."

"Have they, now?" He moved his way on over to the television and turned it on. The screen showed the image of a Toad talking about something.

"-Is only a matter of time. In other news, Castle Koopa has just been demolished! Repairs are currently under way, and, oh, what a sight it is! Right now, we're having a word with the head Magikoopa, Kammeron! Take it away, Nosey T.!"

The image switched on over so the panel that once occupied the space of the T.V.'s upper, right-hand corner then took up the whole screen. "Thanks, Spike. We are here at what was once the gothic architecture, Castle Koopa! So, tell us, Kammy: What could have caused such a disaster?" He shoved his microphone in the beak of a blue Magikoopa that was in the foreground of a bunch of Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and other Magikoopas, all of them working hard to repair their base.

"< Sigh >. First off, 'Shnozzy', it's Kammeron, not 'Kammy'. Secondly, whatever it was that reduced us to this state is none of your business."

"And it's Nosey, not 'Marzee'! Back to you, Ike."

"It's Mike. Next item: Studies have shown that you can prevent poisoning by consuming this Refreshing Herb! Speaking of herbs, if there's anyone out there who hates vegetables, it's the r-" He turned off the T.V. at that point.

"It's still the same old nonsense if you ask me."

"No, wait! Turn it back on! I think he was about to say something about the aliens!!"

With a sigh, her husband turned it back on. "-Ange circles have been appearing in Flower Fields! Right now, we're going to go back over to Nosey, here, so we can get a little more insight from one of the resident Bub-ulbs! Nosey?"

"Thanks, Mickey! So, Bubs, any comments regarding the strange circles that have been ruining your crops lately?"

"Um, I didn't say my name was 'Bubs'. I said it might have something to do with the ali-"

"-You don't say!! Well, it was nice talkin' to ya, Shrubs. Back to you, Michelle."

"It's Mike!! In other news, Lava Lava Island has recently been undergoing some serious-" CLICK! Once again, the T.V. was off.

"Nutcases," muttered the king, "but I'll give that they did mention something about 'aliens'."

At that point, Luigi was already asleep in her arms. "Honey, you don't suppose there would be some kind of connection between the aliens, the castle, and how our children disappeared?"

He sat down across from her at the kitchen table. Mario was still resting on his right arm. "At this point, anything could be the case. But, like I said earlier, it probably doesn't concern us, and the important thing is we got'em back."

"Yes, dear," she said looking down at her green-capped son. "But I just can't shake this feeling off that we have an enemy."

"Whatever it is," said her husband, leaning closer to her. "I'm sure we can take care of him."

"I suppose you're right," she said. "Again..."