The air was warm.

   Even before he had opened his eyes, Mario could feel the toasty aura of the new day's heat radiating around him, trying to coax his body to fall back into slumber; rolling over on the grass, he slumped onto his stomach and tried to ignore the sunlight that he knew was knocking at his eyelids. It was morning.

No, please, thirty more minutes... It was morning and he knew it; but his somewhat refreshed limbs didn't make up for how much his brain still wanted sleep.

Sleep could be good sometimes. Sleep meant not having to do anything else...

That was when he became faintly aware of something — or someone — right in front of him, moving around restlessly, breathing loud enough to tickle his nose. He almost thought it was a dog; but no, it couldn't have—

He almost shoved it away before remembering Buddy. A smile tugging one corner of his mouth, Mario reached out and stroked the dinosaur's neck, eyes still closed.

"Stop it, Bud," he mumbled under his breath. "What do you want?" Immediately after uttering the words he realized that he was probably hungry, eliciting a small groan from the dozing human. "Is it already time to go?"

Buddy didn't let up. Instead, the yoshi seemed intent on rousing his companion, sniffing and nudging his face more and more incessantly as the seconds passed. Eventually he stopped and let out a rather loud vocalization that sounded less than happy. Mario, starting to get genuinely annoyed, finally cracked his eyes.

"What, Buddy, what is—?"

He stopped as he saw the yellow dinosaur sniffing the ground now beside him, looking at the grass where there had been left their fruit rinds from the night before. But that wasn't what Mario saw.

He saw nothing.

With a sudden frown, he came alive in an instant and sat up straight, staring at the grass beside him. Getting to his knees, Mario paused in confusion, glancing at the ground all about him. Wait a minute. He was at the base of the tree near Pianta Village, he knew, but that wasn't it; something was wrong. He didn't see—

"Fludd! ...Fludd, where are you??"

There was no mechanical response to his query.

Now Buddy stood up a little straighter and looked at Mario quite seriously, as if he understood the predicament. All at once the human scrambled to his feet, tiredness forgotten. This couldn't be right.

He didn't see the funky yellow water pump anywhere at his bedside.

Whirling in a circle, Mario felt his heart pick up. No, this is impossible. He has to be here, where could he be?? I left him right here! What—

He put his hands to his mouth and tried again. "Fludd? Fludd, are you there??"

Mario didn't know what he expected — it wasn't like he could have grown legs and walked off for a stroll! That was out of the question. Fludd wouldn't abandon him if he had a choice, anyway; Mario was sure of that. And even if his power had shut down or something, the actual machine should still be there!

But there was nothing there now.

Scanning a quick circle around the tree base, the whole edge where they were camped, and anywhere in the conceivable vicinity, Mario was very soon faced with a startling and unexpected truth: Fludd was gone.

Vanished... disappeared in the night!

Or was it... stolen?

The boy snapped his head around to Buddy. "How could he be gone? Did you see, Buddy? Where, what happened??"

The dinosaur tilted his head at him, then slowly turned back and looked in the direction of the village. Gently, he made a small whine.

Mario followed his stare in an instant. "In the village? Someone took him?" Setting his face very seriously, the boy immediately stepped forward and patted his neck with a nod. "Alright. Let's go." With nothing whatever to pack up, Mario turned and left the tree, heading back towards the front of the village near the outskirts. He had to start his search somewhere.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," he said aloud, though it was more to reassure himself than the yoshi. Not that he would admit it to himself, but he was really quite worried.

I knew staying the night here was a bad idea, he thought angrily. He could be anywhere by now!

Never in a million years would he have anticipated something like this. Well, okay, maybe he had only known Fludd for a couple of days, but he didn't see why someone would want to steal him at a glance. He didn't exactly come off as something a random person on the street would identify as a prized item.

And besides, who could have been by while he was sleeping? They'd been quite out of the way, and he could hardly imagine any of the piantas from last night spying on him. Then who—

The answer hit Mario like a brick wall: Junior.

Of COURSE... Who else could possibly be this much of a nuisance? Who else had directly expressed annoyance at Mario's using a tool? It had to be his handiwork; it had to be!

Why that little...! Quickly, Mario's expression turned flat. It suddenly reminded him of that illusory world he'd found on Gelato Beach the day before — he hadn't been able to take Fludd into it, albeit only for a few minutes. That had also been Junior's doing... so was this also an illusion?

Evidently not, as Mario could quite clearly tell from the cloudy blue sky overhead and the solid ground beneath him. The day looked restored to its former glory over Isle Delfino, and for the first time he could look upon Pianta Village in broad daylight. He was surprised by how hot it already was — looking up, he guessed by the sun it was maybe eight or nine in the morning, but the air was so thick he could already feel his clothes getting constricting. Weird... maybe because we're up so high?

As he walked, flocks of butterflies and bees arose from the grass all around them, exciting Buddy into attacking them with his tongue. He actually succeeded in eating a couple of the butterflies, but his game seemed to come to a head when he caught a bee and decided it wasn't worth the pain.

Mario, on the other hand, was still too concerned to enjoy his antics. His thoughts raced fast, thinking how strange it was to be without the familiar weight on his back.

What might Junior do with Fludd? Could he want to use him? Or what if he—

Mario's heart almost skipped a beat at his last thought. No. He wouldn't do that.

He couldn't disassemble Fludd!

Even if Fludd was immobile, he was still intelligent. He had lots of useful knowledge and Professor Gadd's quirky sense of humor. Surely he could talk his way out of Junior's bad side.

With that thought, Mario allowed a small smile to himself. Yes, surely. Fludd could hold his own in a war of words with that little kid. At least for a while.

So I've just got to hurry! Mario thought.

On his way back towards the village, he spotted a large gathering of piantas — maybe even more than last night — crowded on the outskirts by the bridge. Wonder what the deal is now. Remembering something else, before getting too close to their hum of lively chatter, Mario ducked off to the side and emptied his bladder in the tall grass. Rejoining his yoshi, he then climbed onto his back without waiting for an invitation and nudged him forward.

"Okay Buddy, time to get to work."

He had been intending to go talk to someone and figure out just what the new commotion was about — hopefully not a village-wide theft! — when the village proper came into view and he saw quite clearly for himself.

Gone were the neat little grassy yards and well-used paths that led around Pianta Village. Aside from the tall mushrooms and buildings themselves, gone was any suitable ground for walking on at all. Guiding Buddy up to the low fence that enclosed the village, Mario was nearly spellbound by the sight before him: almost the entire little town had been coated with a thick slathering of bright orange goop, which sat smoking over just about every horizontal surface. He could see even from here how the graffiti was hot, seemingly responsible for that spike in temperature. Aside from maybe the beach courtyard after fighting Phantamanta, Mario had never seen so much toxic paint at once.

For a moment he sat still as his jaw nearly dropped. Then there could be no doubting it now: that little kid is out of his mind.

Instinctively reaching for Fludd's handles and not finding them, Mario tightened his jaw and turned Buddy back for the villagers. That kid... he knew I was here! He knew how to stop me...!

Approaching the nearest pianta he saw — who just happened to be Animal Lady — he called, "Hey, what's going on here?"

Animal Lady looked up and saw him, and instantly some sort of excitement crossed her face. "Ahh! Mario! What a mess! What can we do??"

He came closer, giving her a critical look. "...Was it your pets again?" he asked jokingly.

She frowned. "Pardon me? No, my darlings are not responsible! Hmph," she pouted.

Now Mario turned serious. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"It just appeared overnight," another pianta lady replied. "No one seems to know how it got there. And even worse, it's spreading on its own. We were just barely able to escape. And the mayor got left behind somewhere over there!" She pointed towards something vague.

Suddenly a mustached pianta man stepped forward, whom Mario immediately recognized as the guy from the night before. "Howdy, son. Thanks to Mayor Russo, everyone was evacuated safely," he nodded to him.

"He was up there giving instructions," the lady went on. "What a hero!"

"Now, he's stranded up there on that yellow mushroom," mustache pianta said, pointing towards the large fungus growing near the front of the village. "He's the only one left. That's overlooking his house, but he's stuck because there's too much goop to get in and too much to make it over here."

Following his eyes, Mario looked out at the mushroom in question, spotting a small lone figure standing atop it as promised. It did appear a rather pressing predicament.

"I'd just like to know where all of it came from," another woman spoke up sharply. "I'll bet it was that criminal they were talking about down in the plaza again — he's come out here to the country now, has he??"

Mario frowned and turned away from direct view of her face. "Oh, I don't know," he said nonchalantly. "Probably. I think he's actually still on the loose and they got the wrong guy."

"Huh, do you think?" the woman asked curiously, but he had already moved on a ways; he could see Gramps sitting against the trunk of a slanting tree near the edge, accompanied by his granddaughter Angela. Past that, a few children ran about playing in the tall grass, while none other than Tommy and the Doot Doot Sisters had appeared and begun to play and dance. Giving them skeptical look, Mario slid off Buddy and approached them.

"Hey! What are you guys doing??" he asked, with what must have been a less than approving expression.

Tommy, without halting in his strumming chords, looked up and saw him. "Hey, Mario! There you are, you disappeared last night."

"I was dealing with problems," the human replied, raising an eyebrow. "What's going on here? Isn't this an emergency??"

Tommy chuckled perhaps a bit sheepishly. "Look, this is all we can do at this point, so don't get all mad, okay?" he defended. "It's not our fault the mayor isn't exactly the most athletic pianta around."

Now Mario frowned and turned back to stare at the village. The orange goop was sweltering — he could feel it even from here — and he could see the heat waves above its surface. If he had learned anything on Sirena Beach, it was that his shoes could not protect him from that inferno.

Biting his lip in irritation, he paused a moment in thought. "I could take care of it easily if I had my— water machine," he said aloud. "But it disappeared last night. Someone seems to have stolen it."

Tommy looked surprised. "Really? Why, who would—

"It doesn't matter right now," Mario interrupted firmly. He abruptly let out a sigh. "What matters is getting the mayor to safety." As much as it hurt him to say it, he knew it was what Fludd would probably say — real lives come first. Still, something about it didn't ring right in Mario's mind.

The mustache pianta raised his eyebrows. "And you're going to be the one to do it??"

Mario glanced back at him. "Yeah. Why not?"

There was a brief silence as all the villagers seemed to agree. "Well, I guess there's no stopping you," he answered at last. "But without actually cleaning that stuff up, I don't see how you're going to get the mayor down from there."

"Yes, you do kind of have to baby him in these things," Gramps said from his seat. "He's always had a strong sense of duty and leadership, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the simpler stuff..." He shook his head.

Angela leaned towards them and half-whispered, "Gramps says that he used to babysit the mayor. How wild!"

Mario, in spite of himself, began to grin.

"He even changed the mayor's diaper..." she went on.

"Alright, I think I've got it!" mustache pianta suddenly exclaimed, grabbing their attention. "Mario, you said you wanted to go to the underside, right? Well this is the perfect solution!"

The boy, excited at the prospect of doing something, stepped forward eagerly. "The underside? You think I can reach him from underground?"

The man nodded. "Yes. Well, maybe. There's several ground holes around here, some of them on the outskirts that are easy enough to reach. There's one right over there, in fact," he gestured to the tall grass behind them. "It's kind of a tricky thing down there, but if you're paying attention you should be able to come up though one of the openings in the village. There's actually one near the spring there," he pointed again, "and you might be able to reach the mushroom from there. If you can guide Mayor Russo through the underside, that would be — well, super."

Thinking about that for just a moment, Mario nodded and turned back to him. "So you didn't want to try?"

"Oh, no. I hardly get down there anymore," the man replied. "Fewer and fewer people do nowadays. And it is quite dangerous, you know... that sinkhole goes pretty deep."

At this, the boy faced him earnestly, remembering something he had been wondering. "Has anyone ever fallen into it?"

"Not in recent memory," Gramps spoke up. "And we'd like to try to keep it that way!"

It wasn't a no. Raising his eyebrows, Mario glanced back at the band, who were still jamming like there wasn't a care in the world. Well, it wasn't like he didn't put himself in risky situations all the time. And besides, there was an actual person at stake here.

   ...And there might be shine sprites—

With a quick breath, he finally nodded. "Alright, show me where to get down to this underside." Turning back to the yoshi trailing him, he patted his cheek. "Well Buddy, I think I'm gonna have to do this one myself."

The yoshi, as if not quite understanding, tilted his head and made a small sound. Beside him, mustache pianta spoke up.

"That's probably a good idea. The underside isn't even remotely designed for yoshis since you have to do a fair amount of hanging."

Mario did a slight double take. "Hanging?"

"Oh yes. You'll see," the man replied. "How's your upper arm strength?"

Now Mario laughed. "Not a problem." Not that he meant to brag, but he could probably bench press a jillion times his own weight.

   Turning to glance around at the small group, he asked, "Could anyone keep an eye on Buddy here while I'm gone? He's no trouble, he just might need a snack."

"Sure thing," Angela offered. "I mean, Miss Animal Lover could do it, but she has her own issues."

Mario snorted and stroked Buddy's shell. "He's not a pet," he replied. "He's a friend. He'll grow!" Patting him in farewell, Mario turned to mustache pianta. "Alright, let's go!"

  "Ooh, wait a minute!" another voice called. "You're going to the underside?" Looking up, they saw it was the mushroom pianta with the backpack from last night as well.

   "If you see any, keep an eye out for green mushrooms! They fetch a good price, but they're rare..."

   At this, Mario slowly spread his face into a smile. "But worth every coin," he added. "I'll keep it in mind, but mushrooms aren't my big priority right now!"

   "Your loss," the pianta shrugged.

   Mario made a face and chuckled. You have no idea!

"Right this way," the mustache pianta led off into the tall grass. "Since we're so close to the edge, you'd best be careful, or else you'll fall. And that would be bad," he instructed. A couple of smaller pianta children darted past them, hardly visible at first through the greenery. "Stay near the others, kids!"

Smiling at their antics in spite of their disobedience, he turned to Mario and said, "Now the underside is mostly narrow platforms, so watch your step. I can't guarantee someone will be waiting to catch you at the bottom, if you know what I mean."

"I understand," Mario shrugged, not concerned at all.

   Gutsy human, the pianta thought. Coming to a stop by the edge of a large hole in the grass, he put his hands on his hips. "Well, here we are. This should lead you to the mayor. At least I think so..."

"Think? Why wouldn't it?" Mario asked, stepping forward to get a look. The hole was quite big, about a yard wide and several feet deep. It was similar, he supposed, to the ones out of which the giant mushrooms in the village grew, but this one was empty. Getting on his hands and knees, he gazed in and saw what appeared to be a metal grate or hatch of some sort on the bottom.

"I don't know exactly my way down there," the pianta man said. "But I'm sure you can figure it out. The whole village is covered in goop, so obviously you'll want to try to come up in a place near the mayor's house." Pausing to look back up at the village, he said, "There's a hole near the village spring there that might be a good exit point. See if you can't find your way there."

Mario nodded. "Okey-dokey. Leave it to me." With a sudden grin that clearly didn't take the situation very seriously, the boy let himself over the edge of the ditch and dropped down. He landed with a small thud a second later.

"Are you good?" the pianta called down, which was probably a way of saying that he couldn't help in any way.

The human stood and briefly glanced up at him. The hole felt even deeper once he was inside it; or at the least it made him feel even smaller than he was. "Yeah. Thanks!"

With that, he turned his attention immediately to the metal floor beneath him. Shifting his foot to get a feel for what he was looking at, he soon realized it was a rotating hatch that spun on a central hinge. It wasn't the sturdiest thing to have between oneself and a seemingly bottomless pit.

Frowning, Mario stamped his foot now, crouching down to inspect it closer. So why isn't it—?

His thought was harshly silenced by the rusted latch breaking free all in one instant, sending the flimsy floor beneath him flipping on itself in a heartbeat. His heart might have escaped his throat if he hadn't reacted quick as he did, long accustomed to falling through floors: his weight giving way, Mario instantly stuck his fingers into the mesh grating of the platform and latched on tight. A second later his reflex proved to be invaluable: the entire platform had flipped over, leaving the boy dangling by nothing but the strength of his one hand. As anyone might have done in such a situation, he looked down; and as anyone might not have done in that situation, he remained silent.

Below him, dark and utterly devouring, a mile-wide sinkhole extended in every direction as his hanging feet thrashed on air for a moment. Holding his breath, Mario locked his arms and clung to the ceiling above for dear life.

They really were not kidding.

Moving his gaze on from the abysmal pit below, Mario looked ahead to what he could only interpret as the village underside: it was smaller than he'd envisioned, and almost none of it was a flat surface for traversing. Low above his head was the bottom of the village ground proper, the odd landmass which Fludd had tried to tell him was situated in the branches of a giant tree. Now, hanging just below its surface, he could see that the machine was right.

Far to his left, on one side of the sinkhole, he could see the gargantuan trunk protruding from the cliff wall, reaching outward into the middle of the chasm. There a ways ahead of him he could see the trunk splay out, splitting into a few smaller branches; and it was on top of this, somehow rooted around its skyward-pointing branches, that the plot of ground on which the village sat had been planted. Above him, Mario could come inches away from touching the raw dirt and exposed roots from its underside, only prevented by the metal netting that he hung from. Ahead, it extended forward and around in seemingly mindless catwalks across the little underworld, although most of them were mounted too high to stand on top of.

And that was all, save the light whisper of a stray wind that had found its way under the tree.

Clenching the bars above him tighter, Mario let out a gasp and sprang into action. He couldn't just hang around here — there was nowhere to land! He had faith in his arm strength, but he hadn't intended to need it this much.

Immediately starting forward towards the center of the tree, Mario began monkey-climbing along the catwalk, swinging his weight forward a little to get momentum. Somehow he managed to work his hands through the holes easily enough to move at a decent pace, always focused on the way ahead of him. There was no point in looking down anymore.

   It was really fine; he wasn't terribly worried. One couldn't accomplish things if they were always being too cautious to take risks, after all.

As he got beneath what must have been the middle of the village, the tree trunk began to reach out below him. Now keeping a steady eye downwards to the crotch of the tree, where several of the large promised mushrooms were growing, Mario paused for a breath. Maybe he could land down there if he could find a way back up.

His thoughts were halted by a loud, sudden slam that shook the ceiling he was holding onto. Looking up in alarm, Mario saw with surprise that it was a large black and yellow klamber, one of those big crawling spiders that he had encountered in Ricco Harbor. Momentarily immobile, Mario just stared as the creature used its numerous legs to pick its way along the grate a short distance ahead.

Oh boy, more company, he thought. Setting his face in determination, he soon kicked himself to move forward, resolving that he'd just have to avoid it.

Luckily, since it didn't actually seem interested in chasing him or being otherwise a nuisance, he was able to slip past it with relative ease as the hanging platform widened into a large opening. Up ahead, he could now see a few vertical panels built onto bamboo-like supports that appeared to slide along small tracks. Surely that had to lead somewhere—

Nevermind, he thought, interrupting his own train of thought. It was no good now — his arms were starting to burn like there was no tomorrow; he wasn't sure how long he could stay hanging like this. Instantly looking around for alternatives, Mario didn't see anything that might provide for a resting place — except for the mushrooms.

Glancing carefully at the place below him, the branches of the giant tree appeared to be stout enough to land on with little difficulty. From there, he could probably have counted dozens of the giant mushrooms growing along their surface, so big that he might have been a mere insect in a jungle of them.

Good enough. Losing his willpower the next moment, Mario loosened his grip above and let go, dropping down several yards to the trunk below.

His feet hit the smooth bark without him so much as losing his balance. Its surface was so firm that for a moment Mario almost forgot what it was he was standing on.

That's better. Slowly rising to his full height, the tiny human gazed around him breathlessly. His new surroundings did indeed feel like another world — an admittedly fascinating one for all the mushrooms. Now, standing among them, he saw that the fungi he had been admiring all grew several feet above his head. From here they looked positively magical: each one a different shape or pattern, oranges or greens or purples on their umbrella-shaped caps. He would have bet that most of them were quite bouncy too: big mushrooms made the best trampolines.

Gazing upwards, he could also tell where several of them reached through the ground to the sky above. Now that he was lower, he could better see the layout of the underside structures. Glancing back at his footing, Mario took a few steps back along the thick trunk and began searching for his point of exit.

He was right at about the middle of the village as he'd guessed; so if he knew anything about direction he was probably standing near underneath the mayor's house. That meant the nearest opening topside would be...

Bingo. That was probably the best one — a small patch of sun, showering down through the ground almost like a skylight, illumined the catwalks not far from where he stood. He knew it was too far to reach on his own — he was several long feet from the platforms now — but he could already see an easy climb back up on the tops of the mushrooms.

Always with a watchful eye on his footing, Mario started for the opening, pulling himself onto the nearest low mushroom with a faded pink cap. Ignoring the consequences of a potential misstep, he proceeded steadily along, climbing from one giant fungus to the next in a quick matter of seconds. They smelled so wonderfully fresh and earthy — just like home.

It was as he was scaling these large stepping stones that he suddenly heard the familiar tinkle of a shine sprite.

Freezing in his tracks, Mario whipped his head around. Shine sprite?? Sliding back to the previous mushroom, he raised his head to the air, as if he could track that by its scent too. Suddenly sorely conscious of Fludd's absence, he slipped back to the tree trunk and began inspecting the mushrooms, especially among the smaller ones that covered the floor.

It was almost kind of odd to be working by himself, when he thought about it now. He had certainly done it before, of course — and there was something he liked about traveling alone; but he had still hardly been without Fludd for a moment since he'd arrived on Isle Delfino. Something about the whole experience just seemed to demand his presence.

Soon enough, even without the machine's tracking help, Mario found the shine sprite glowing within a small patch of truffles. Its golden sparkle felt comfortingly familiar in the odd quiet.

So there was one down here, he thought, pocketing it. Perfect hiding place, really.

Finally making for the hanging ceiling above, he quickly scaled the large mushrooms once again and stood up on the highest one, growing against a vertical offshoot of the tree. From there he could just reach the netting and pull himself up by his biceps.

   The underside was an interesting concept, but in all earnestness Mario was surprised to hear that piantas came down here so willy-nilly. It didn't exactly seem like a small thing to let your kids dangle over an infinite sinkhole on a rather flimsy series of hanging catwalks. Even for him there was a bit too little solid flooring for his tastes.

   Scoping out his next move, Mario saw that the hole to the village above was just ahead, and would have been a simple climb — if it wasn't for the vertical panel that stood in the way. Swinging up to inspect it, he realized it was one of those sliding sections that appeared to run along a track. He paused skeptically for a moment, then took a daring leap.

   Clinging upright onto its surface, Mario held onto the panel and found that it really was nothing more than a hanging piece of the same wiring. It swayed dangerously as he jumped on, causing him to hold on tighter. Peering ahead through the holes anxiously, he realized what to do.

   Winding his other hand on more tightly, as well as clinging on with his feet or whatever else he could, Mario used one fist to bang violently against the frame, sending it lurching forward along the small overhanging track. Startled by its movement, he quickly held on tight again as the panel slid forward, taking him along with it for the ride. For a brief moment it was fun; then he saw the opening overhead fast approaching. He was about to hit the end of the track—

   Suddenly seeming at a loss for safety, Mario looked up and felt his stomach tilt. He could feel it in his bones: this thing wasn't gonna hold.

   Holding on for just a moment longer, he waited with bated breath as the panel rattled to a jarring stop as it hit the end of the track. Then, without thinking, he lunged upwards and grabbed onto the overhead grate.

   A second later the entire vertical panel he had ridden on broke away from its track and began a long plummet to the unknown below.

   Whoops. They'll need to replace that.

   Staring in mild disbelief, the dangling human held still and watched as it fell, growing quickly smaller and smaller beneath him. He had been hoping maybe to see if it would hit the bottom, but he could now see there was no hope of that. Turning back to his own plight, Mario quickly pulled himself over to the hole he had been aiming for, sunlight from above streaming down. The mesh pathway led straight up to a flip panel similar to the one he'd used to get down in the first place. Stopping just by it, he attempted to get it open with his feet, swinging for a little momentum before reaching it with an upwards kick. Managing to get it propped halfway open, Mario then scrambled forward to grab the inside. He did manage to grasp it with his fingers and find some sort of holding.

   He didn't manage to climb up into the hole right away, leaving him half kneeling, half hanging on the rotating panel, teetering between the open pit and the promise of safety. Remaining silently focused, Mario clawed his way upwards, reaching for the solid earth beyond that. He hadn't lived this long by getting freaked under pressure.

   Soon enough, he was successful, pulling his weight over the edge and grasping onto the side of the hole to get to his feet. As he did, the flipping panel locked into place below him, providing a tentatively secure platform.

   Got it. Looking upwards, he couldn't see anything but the blindingly white sky far above; but he also saw that a small mesh ladder of sorts had been fashioned into the earth leading out. Grinning for the first time to himself, Mario started upwards.

   The heat of the sun became only more intense as he arrived at the surface, which he soon realized was only worsened by the fiery goop spread everywhere. He had almost forgotten it in the meantime, but as he pulled himself out onto land once again, he had a hard time thinking of anything else.

   The hole had indeed led him into what he deemed the heart of the fray: as he stood up on the thin layer of grass surrounding his exit point, the entire village around him in every direction seemed to be coated with a new wash of orange paint. He could almost feel it hitting his skin with the intensity of fire.

   Looking at it up close for the first time, Mario could absolutely tell now that it was from Junior's paintbrush, being of the same goopy consistency; although this was one of the more toxic kinds. The heat waves emanating from its bubbling surfaces distorted his vision, making the village outskirts too blurry to make out anything definite. Talk about hot!

   That wasn't the only thing that was hot. At the sight of the paint-covered homes around him, Mario could feel a similar anger rising within him at that kid. This is going a little far, isn't—??

   All his unhelpful thoughts were put on hold by a sudden familiar voice calling his name.

   "Mario!"

   The boy jerked upright. Was that what he thought it was?

   Fludd?? Whirling in a little circle, his breath came quick. "Fludd! Where are you??"

   "Up here," came the mechanical voice in as patient a tone he could imagine. "On the observation deck!"

   Lifting his head to the skies, the human cast eager blue eyes to the rooftops around him searchingly. Soon he spotted the yellow machine closer than he realized, perched all by himself up on the edge of an overhanging structure by the road. Giving it swift glance, Mario saw that it wasn't a home but indeed some sort of outdoor lookout tower, made of wood and bamboo that stacked upon itself in a disheveled staircase of platforms. From here, it was close enough to reach without having to risk burning himself on the goop if he was a careful jumper.

   Which I am. Smiling cockily, the boy gathered himself and prepared to climb up, calling out again as he did so. "Just hold on, Fludd! I'm coming!"

   The machine's wit did not seem to have suffered. "Mario, that substance is over the boiling point of water—

   "Save it, Fludd, I can't get rid of it without you!" the boy replied nonchalantly, hopping over a puddle for a small gap in the grass before his goal. Watching him from his higher vantage, Fludd appeared to aim his nozzle downwards as the small human scaled the tower, making quick work of the ledges that had been spared Junior's wrath. Before a minute Mario had done it, flipping himself up onto Fludd's platform with the ease of an acrobat.

   Landing pointedly right beside his friend, the boy walked over and knelt down to his level. "Doubted?"

   "Not at all," the machine replied, causing Mario to smile.

   Now he turned serious. "What happened, Fludd? Buddy woke me up to — this! I knew you'd been stolen, of course, but — what are you doing here??"

   "Forgive me, Mario. It was Shadow Mario. He appeared in the night shortly before daylight hit and just took me off."

   The human nodded in horror. "Well I figured that much! What did he do then?"

   "He left me on this deck and then set to work messing up the village. It was all over in a matter of minutes. The villagers realized what was happening only moments after Junior disappeared."

   Mario leaned toward him. "He ran off? Just... caused mayhem and then ran off?"

   Fludd moved his head almost like a nod. "Exactly."

   Mario sat back on his heels. "What else would he do?" he mused at last. "Che macello. So you're alright? He didn't do anything to you?" he asked with more concern now, turning to his friend.

   "Right as rain, Mario. He didn't seem interested in me except insofar as I was an asset to you. He said that with me out of the way you would never get through this mess."

   "And then he just left you here," Mario finished, a little incredulous. He wouldn't have made a move like that if he were a villain. At least, he didn't think so.

"Right," Fludd confirmed. "I did try to stop him, Mario. He showed up while you were sleeping and snatched me right away, but I tried to wake you. Given your response, I guess I was correct that you were sorely lacking."

Mario sighed in frustration. "Don't worry about my sleep, Fludd! You could have screamed."

"Neither of those things are in my nature," the machine replied.

Mario shook his head in exasperation. "Well, what did he say? Anything about where he's headed?"

"Not a word on that. He did talk plenty, but nothing much to report. Just how you were annoying and he was going to stop you and such. I told him that it was improbable, but he didn't care."

   Mario couldn't help smiling to himself as he strapped the pump back on, feeling a secret relief with its weight once again upon him. "Well, his mistake. Come on, Fludd," he said, grabbing the handles comfortably. "Let's clean up the town."

   "Sounds good to me," he agreed.

   "Oh, but wait. We have to get the mayor first. Everyone got out of the village except the mayor, and he's supposed to be... there," Mario pointed to the large yellow mushroom that rose over the houses not far from them, just a few roofs away. From here he could even see the pianta standing on its large cap, pacing back and forth uselessly.

   "Okay," Fludd said. "So I suppose you made it through the underside okay?"

   "You know me, Fludd. Piece of cake," the boy replied, climbing up to the top of the lookout tower.

   "Did you get a good look? Were there any shine sprites?"

   He chuckled. "Sure did! Found it." Patting his leg, he focused on the closest building ahead of him and leapt.

   "Where's Buddy?" Fludd asked as his owner traversed the village rooftops.

   "With the villagers back there." He screeched to a stop at the edge of a tall mushroom cap, just managing to avoid falling over. He was close enough now to the yellow mushroom — only a few yards away — that he could call out to the mayor.

He was a flustered orange pianta man, not terribly old, with a black jacket and bowler hat thrown on over what appeared to be pajamas. He had a dark mustache and glasses, and in Mario's honest opinion looked like he could have played a gangster in one of those old mystery movies.

"Mayor Russo?" he yelled.

Immediately the pianta stood erect and whirled. Spotting him standing just a mushroom away, the mayor nearly jumped like a cat, gasped and cried, "Y-you! What are you doing here?!"

Must be one of those types. Trying to remain calm so he wouldn't do anything hasty, Mario called back patiently, "I came to get you out of here. Everyone else is safe, they said you got everyone out!" Reaching for Fludd, he switched to the hover nozzle to make the last gap over to the mayor.

The pianta almost recoiled in terror. "S-Save me? What are you talking about?? Did you escape the police?"

At this Mario froze. Oh no. So he knows. Lifting his head slowly to face the man, he said firmly and carefully, "Sir, I did not 'escape' anything. I came to clean up this mess, and that's what I'm going to do. Now do you want my help??"

Mayor Russo stared with eyes like pools. "Help??" he echoed. "Help me if you're trying to clean this mess you made of my village!! Why as soon as I get out of this I'm calling the police; get them down here — get ten of them down here! I can't believe what you've done!"

Mario took half a step back in apprehension, starting to feel nervous somehow. Yes, he'd been ridiculed before, but something about this man's intensity startled him. It couldn't be good news.

"It wasn't me," he said loudly, knowing it did no good. "Sir, you've got the wrong guy!"

"Oh sure! Is that what you told the police before they let you go?" Backing away as much as his mushroom head would allow, the mayor stared back at Mario now with a surprising ferocity.

"I have no idea what they were thinking," he cursed. "This time, I'll make sure you stay in prison!"

Now Mario frowned in sudden confusion. Wait just a— "What do you mean 'this time'?" he asked warily.

Mayor Russo snorted. "Still pretending not to know? Take a look around us! Proud of what you've done?" Fixing the boy across from him with an evil eye, he said in a lower voice almost like a threat: "I had you sent to prison once, and I won't hesitate to try it again!"