The distressed cries of the fallen beast echoed in his ears, bouncing off the enclosed walls long after he had silenced. Tumbling rocks and showering dust crashed to the ground in all directions, at last giving way momentarily to a deadly silence. When the rubble finally stilled all was calm once again in the big windmill.

   Then, at last, something moved. Amid crumbling shambles and a great cloud of settling dust, Petey Piranha slowly emerged from where he was half buried beneath the fallen wreckage, shaking off shingles and sheet rock from his battered body. Bursting up through the heavy slabs of roof, he threw back his head and roared.

   A great, single beam of golden light fell in upon him from the great wide opening high above, where the sky far away was just visible. It filled the round building with a kind of enchanted light, illuminating dust and debris littering the floor. Fluttering to his feet, the overgrown piranha flapped his dirty arms and glanced around.

   He had fallen down into the windmill, he knew: this place was small and strangely peaceful. Aside from himself, it was oddly empty. The thick stone walls and floor still stood undamaged, forming a seeming prison around him; and further up the wall were numerous windows beneath the now-absent ceiling. It was just an empty chamber.

   Sniffing through the ancient dirt that had been strewn all over the hard floor, he tossed his big head and peered curiously at the pile beside him. He knew this mess wasn't his fault; so where was the one responsible? He had to be around here somewhere...

   Curiously, Petey began rooting and pushing his way through the debris, hoping to unearth something. With a snort of surprise, he fluttered back as a large slab of sheetrock almost crushed his nose. It was only after a moment of fruitless searching that a tiny sound – nothing more than a buzz, really – came to him from elsewhere, by the far wall. Instantly aroused, the piranha looked up – and bellowed.

   "RAAAWWR!"

   There was his intruder: partially hidden between the wall and an enormous piece of roof propped against it, a young human lay facedown on the windmill floor. The strange machine on its back had been moving, emitting the sound; and through the crumbling dust around him the man began to stir.

   "Mario!"

   With an uneasy cough he seemed to suddenly come to life. For a moment his scrambled mind tried to place where he was. He was lying on a hard surface; almost every part of him stung fiercely, as if he'd taken a terrible hit. But he was alive; he was alright!

   Eyes slowly coming open, he focused on the gray wall inches from his face and frowned. What...?

   Then a familiar voice right behind him sounded alarmingly in his ear. "Mario! You must get up!"

   A huge ground-rattling thump behind him made him snap to attention, and it all came back in a rush. The windmill; he and the piranha had fallen!

   With a groan, Mario pushed himself up and blinked rapidly against the dusty glare. Battered as he was from the tumble, there was nothing to get you moving quite like the sight of a giant angry-looking plant stomping towards you.

   As quickly as he could Mario shoved the enormous sheetrock aside – which by some miracle hadn't crushed him – and jumped to his feet, letting it crash to the ground behind him. Ignoring the still throbbing pain – he almost felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of him – he faced the giant piranha squarely. For a second the two were still again, both a little tossed and worn, but ultimately undeterred.

   Petey, delicate as he might appear, seemed none the worse for the incident, and Mario knew his job was by no means done. And look what had become of the windmill!

   But hardly any of that mattered to him just now. Glancing back at the machine on his back, he asked, "You okay, Fludd?"

   "Yes, I am fine," came the answer. "But we seem to have a situation."

   "Yeah," Mario agreed, taking in the 'situation' in half a second. "Are we trapped in here?"

   Quickly scanning the playing field, Fludd shook his head. "There is a door over there," he said, looking at the opposite side of the windmill. "But leaving this beast in here would not be advised."

   Mario quickly spotted what Fludd was talking about. The door looked like it hadn't been used in years, but it would have to do. They surely couldn't go back the way they had come!

   With strange, low gurgles, the piranha in the foreground snapped its teeth forward, demanding attention. Cautiously grabbing Fludd's handle beside him, Mario took a step back and watched as Petey reared himself up, then slammed back down aggressively. It had no intention of letting them go either.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

   Mario nodded. "You know this beast," he said over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off his opponent. "So what do you suggest?"

   "I only know of him, I do not actually know him," Fludd replied. "He may not be like the other piranhas, but I believe water to the mouth should still work in this scenario."

   Mario nodded and stepped forward without hesitation. He was now powdered with ceiling dust from the rock, and he definitely didn't look like much against the monster. But Petey Piranha didn't seem to care how small he was – he was still a threat.

   "So, Petey," Mario addressed him, moving around him in a slow circle. "You wanna play?"

   "Mario, be careful," Fludd warned. "He is still very powerful."

   In an instant the piranha lunged forward. Not one to wait around, Mario immediately countered the oncoming piranha; a harsh spray of water to the beast's face. Recoiling with hisses and garbled complaints, Petey stumbled back, shaking his head with dripping flower petals; and then, as if in retaliation, he turned and unleashed a load of brown sludge onto the floor like a giant muddy volcano.

   Mario widened his eyes as gallons of the familiar stuff erupted on to the stones before him in a fantastic indoor mudslide, almost hitting his shoes. Quickly backing up on his attack, he just managed to miss the wave.

   "Whoa!"

   "Yes, he does seem to be able to regurgitate the muddy solution," Fludd agreed calmly over the piranha's uproar. "It appears to be relatively safe to touch, however."

   "He can throw it up?" Mario asked in incredulousness. "Well no wonder the whole place was a mess!"

   "Actually, I believe it is a defensive mechanism. He creates the slop in his stomach when endangered and then fires it at his enemies," Fludd explained. "It is messy but effective."

   "I'm not gonna ask what it's made of," Mario replied warily, shooting again for the piranha's mouth. He kept a bit of a distance, as there was no need to get real close with Fludd's range, trying to stay out of the goop. This time, he managed to catch him open; and before Petey could stop it, he had become completely overrun by Mario's spray.

   "There! He's getting drowned!" Fludd said.

   Encouraged at the thought, Mario pressed forward a little more as Petey began to wane, finally flopping backwards against the floor in a heap. Finally stopping his assault, Mario paused to watch the piranha wriggle on the ground with a belly full of water. For a moment he seemed immobile.

   "Mario –"

   Fludd didn't get the chance to finish. Before they knew it Petey had recovered, hacking up the water which had taken on a much more goopy appearance. Jumping to his feet, the piranha opened his mouth and let it all fly – in a giant brown wave which they saw but didn't have time to dodge.

   "Oh..." Fludd moved his head forward, which had somehow managed to miss the shower entirely, to observe his now dripping owner. Frozen in surprise for a brief moment, Mario had been almost completely covered in the goopy brown slime.

   "You'll need to attack him when he's downed," Fludd clarified. "I was thinking something like a little brute force?"

   Wiping an arm across his mouth, Mario slowly nodded. "Well now I'm covered in puke, what's to lose?" Shaking himself to send a little mud flying, he seized Fludd's handles aggressively and assaulted again, trying to get the goop on the floor as much as Petey himself. This place was going to be such a dump by the time this was all over.

   At first the piranha struggled against him, turning his head and getting pelted nearly everywhere but the place Mario was trying to aim. After a minute of slightly frustrating persistence, he managed to get the water where he wanted it.

   Gargling with the strangest sounds, Petey began again to fall back under the onslaught. Flapping his wet wings, he stumbled back behind Fludd's powerful force. Then Mario pressed harder, determined not to let him go this time. Mercilessly he filled the piranha's mouth with water until he keeled over almost pathetically.

   "He doesn't seem to be very physical," Mario commented over his noise.

   "Yes, now!" Fludd exclaimed. "Get him!"

   Not knowing exactly his plan but nevertheless doing it, Mario abruptly stopped his attack and rushed forward, for a second looking over the swelled piranha in indecision. Then he did the only thing he could conceive: climbed up top.

   Struggling at first to stay atop his wobbly stomach, Mario jumped with all his might and slammed down, forcing the piranha to stay. With all the force he could muster while holding on, he did it again – over and over with aggressive blows to his body, although he avoided the head because the giant teeth were still dangerous. Finally, when the piranha seemed to have slowed under him, Mario ceased, himself struggling a bit to stay upright. When it seemed safe, he jumped off and stood back, letting the piranha 'breathe'.

   Squirming just a little in a pile of mud, Petey Piranha flopped back in a heap and remained there. It seemed he had met his match.

   "Well the big guy wasn't that tough after all," Mario panted, looking over the now calm beast lying before him.

   "Perhaps that has taught him a lesson," Fludd remarked from Mario's back, so casually that Mario was a little surprised. When his breathe had returned, he asked, "A lesson in what, exactly?"

   "Not to spit his goop on the town, not to spit his goop on you... not to spit his goop on anything! Nice work."

   Mario couldn't help a smile at the machine's words. He was about to step forward again, maybe to tell the defeated piranha a few encouraging words, when suddenly Petey let out a loud shriek. Then, starting with his feet, the piranha suddenly became glazed over with his own brown substance – as if turning to mud – and collapsing into the floor, he vanished.

   Mario and Fludd were left all alone with the telltale puddle in the center of the big windmill.

   Mario blinked and took a step back in surprise. "...What?"

   Fludd, who had observed the whole thing, didn't seem too alarmed. "Well, would you look at that," he said. "He's returned to the mud!"

   "What do you mean?" Mario asked, stepping forward and inspecting the goo that covered the ground where the piranha had fallen. "Where'd he go?"

   "I don't know," Fludd replied simply. "He might have been made of paint after all."

   "Made of paint?" Mario paused. "So you mean... you think he was the criminal's pet?"

   "I never heard of Petey Piranha having an owner, but it's possible the perpetrator employed his help," Fludd mused. "I really am not sure about this one. It is puzzling."

   "Wait, if Petey Piranha has always existed on Isle Delfino, then how could he have been created by that guy?" Mario asked.

   "Perhaps he wasn't. Perhaps he was just granted special powers by that magic paintbrush," Fludd suggested. "Perhaps he was fake. Either way, the Petey you fought is gone now."

   "Hmm," Mario said thoughtfully, stroking his chin with a dirty glove. "A magic paintbrush that can create life."

   "Or at least imitate it," Fludd supplied.

   Mario frowned, seeming slightly elsewhere. "I wish I could say it's the first time I've heard of it."

   He paused, and there was a moment of strange silence. Then Mario seemed to remember his task: finishing off the goopy Petey Piranha remains.

   Quickly washing up the last of the mud from the windmill floor, things began to look decent again. Mario couldn't entirely shake the surprise at Petey's sudden disappearance – or the odd thought that he had just been washed away in a wave of goo – but he was soon distracted by yet another discovery. From beneath the last paint's slimy surface, a beautiful shine sprite rose from the ground where the piranha had been.

   Mario, unsurprised, went forward to receive it. This one somehow seemed even more radiant; it glowed in the center of the windmill beneath the overhead beam of light, and almost filled the round room with golden light. The now white floor and walls reflected it all back at him brightly.

   "If we keep this up I might need sunglasses," Mario commented as he gently took the shine in his hand.

   Fludd moved his head towards him. "I think that is the idea on Isle Delfino."

   Mario chuckled. "Hey, if that Petey had a shine sprite, does that mean the criminal is connected to all this?" he asked, a sudden thought occurring to him.

   "It could be," Fludd said. "In fact, it almost seems as if he led us here on purpose. Petey Piranha may have just been a distraction."

   Mario thought about that for a second. "Well, we should probably get out of here."

   "Before the piantas come and pin the blame on you?" Fludd asked in amusement.

   Mario widened his eyes as he headed for the door. "Don't remind me."

   "Well, it certainly doesn't help with how dirty you are now," Fludd said. "Perhaps you should go jump in the lake, since you look like you just came out of the sewer."

   Mario raised his eyebrows at first in shock. Was that a bit of snarkiness he detected in the machine's tone? "You're completely serious, aren't you?" he asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

   "Of course," Fludd replied.

   Mario could only chuckle. "Well, like I said before, you have no idea."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

   It seemed they would have no such luck with a clean getaway, however. As soon as Mario forced open the old windmill door opening onto the base of the hill, they found the field beyond in a small uproar, scattered about with a few villagers who stood openly talking and staring at the windmill. Apparently the gate, which had blocked access from town, had been opened.

   Reading his mind, Fludd said quietly, "Oh boy. It appears we are too late."

   Mario, knowing that the piantas were likely abuzz as to what had happened with the windmill, took a deep breath and stepped forward. It was silly to dream that their entire escapade had gone unheard and unnoticed. He'd have to confront them somehow... but it didn't promise to be easy. He was always in the middle of things like this; and explaining himself was something he hated to do.

   To his surprise, he found that even the bridge had been repaired while he was away; it was now covered over with a heavy metal grate that appeared sturdy enough to allow passage. Coming down the path and crossing over, Mario approached the small group of confused villagers.

   "Did you guys hear that noise? It sounded like a monster!"

   "Of course I did! It destroyed the big windmill's roof!"

   "Hey mom, can we go inside the windmill?"

   Mario slowed as he neared them, looking back and forth with uncertainty. There were the two kids he'd encountered earlier, tugging at their mom's skirt; he carefully made sure to hide himself from her immediate sight.

   Glancing up, a pianta man soon spotted him. "Hey, you! Did you just come out of the windmill?"

   Everyone looked up and almost simultaneously fell silent in surprise. Mario tried to put on as serious a face as he could manage. There was only one right way to handle this – and if he didn't, it could land him in even more trouble.

   "Yeah," he replied, coming to stop beside him. Instantly he had everyone's attention.

   "Whoa, what happened to you, buddy?"

   "What? You survived the collapse?"

   "Do you know what happened?"

   "Was it your fault?!"

   Mario looked back and forth between them all, finding each one staring at him with the same eager curiosity. This was the part he found difficult: dealing with everybody at once.

   "I fell when the roof caved in," he explained carefully, "because I was trying to stop Petey Piranha. We both fell in."

   "Petey Piranha?" the first man asked. Carefully, his gaze shifted to the windmill behind them. "Is he... he's not still in there, is he?"

   Mario's mind instantly worked up an answer that made more sense. "No, he ran off after we fell."

   "Fell?" the man asked. "You were on the roof when it caved in?"

   "And do you expect us to believe that?" a woman's stern voice interrupted. Mario almost moaned when the red pianta lady pushed her way forward, adjusting her glasses which had almost fallen off in her indignation.

   "So you're still lollygagging around here, are you?" she asked disapprovingly. "Excuse me people, open your eyes! This is the bad man who's responsible for dirtying up our town, and now he's lying about destroying the windmill!" she exclaimed to the surrounding piantas.

   "Hey, I didn't destroy the windmill!" Mario spoke up indignantly. "I didn't do anything but walk on it!"

   "And what, pray tell, were you doing on top of the big windmill?"

   But before Mario could even think about answering, he was rewarded with a hard slap across the cheek, a blow that somehow stung much worse than the first one had. The surrounding piantas were surprised to silence for a second.

   Clenching a fist, Mario stared angrily down at the ground in a slight embarrassment, trying to think of a reply. For a moment the wind swirled across the field, although it did very little to cut through the awkward atmosphere.

   Then suddenly another voice spoke up behind them. "Hey!"

   Everyone turned to see a pianta in a baggy shirt and orange beret come breathlessly skidding to a stop beside them. Stepping back in surprise, the woman looked him over.

   "You guys... have it all wrong!" the guy breathed.

   "What do you mean?" asked the first pianta man.

   The pianta from the windmill gestured to the silently brooding Mario. "This guy didn't destroy the windmill, that enormous beast did! Don't you see, this guy defeated him!"

   Never more grateful, Mario glanced at the man who had helped him on the windmill and almost seemed to smile, despite the previous uneasiness. The rest of the piantas looked at each other.

   "That's what he said," an older pianta man said. "But this lady says –"

   "He's a reckless vandal!" the woman insisted. "I can't believe you people!"

   The windmill guy shook his head. "No, he's a hero! He went up there to stop the beast because I asked him to!"

   "Then where is the beast?" the lady asked, crossing her arms.

   "He ran off," Mario spoke up plainly, trying to keep a blank face. It seemed to work as far as avoiding scrutinizing glares.

   "Well, do you see him anywhere?" the windmill guy pointed out. "And, who do you think cleaned up the hillside?" he added, spreading his arms at the great wide expanse of green where they now stood. "I saw this guy do it with my own eyes with that fancy water pump of his."

   Everyone was silent for a second as they looked among each other and the human in question. Mario glanced around, looking up at the piantas who hadn't said anything and trying to avoid eye contact with the grouchy mother.

   "Well, the hill does look great," the first man said. "We weren't sure who did it, but I figured it was safe again."

   "And he cleaned the whole path up the windmill," the windmill guy pointed out. They followed his gaze and nodded in approval.

   "Is that true?" the first man asked, finally directing his attention to Mario.

   Mario looked up at him and nodded sincerely, finding words a bad option at this point.

   "Well... you have our thanks," the man replied graciously. "We all heard the screams and the crash, but I just wasn't sure... thanks for your help."

   "Yeah," another guy spoke up. "That's pretty impressive if you chased off Petey Piranha on your own!"

   "He's been plaguing these hills a lot over the past week," someone else chipped in.

   The pianta lady frowned. "Uggh! Are you all serious?"

   "I haven't seen him doing anything bad," a pianta said defensively. "And he doesn't seem very dangerous."

   Mario silently followed the conversation, admittedly feeling a little strange with them talking right over his head but decided not to make a big deal. It seemed like he might just be getting out of the woods after all. It was only fair, since none of this was actually his fault, anyway.

   "Hey, mustache-dude! Did you really fight Petey Piranha?" the boy spoke up. "That's, like, awesome! You're funny-looking... but kinda cool, too."

   "Nathan!" his mother scolded.

   "Oh, give it a rest," a man beside her said. "I just want our peaceful village to go back to normal!"

   "And this young man certainly seems capable," another nearby offered. "The goop's all gone, and this place is clean again! If we can just get the tourists to come back..."

   "Well, we've been having a lot of weird creatures around here lately," the older man said.

   The red pianta finally sighed grudgingly and adjusted her glasses. "Fine, fine. So maybe he cleaned the hillside. But why's he hanging around anymore? And why is he covered in filth?"

   "I'm looking for shine sprites," Mario answered bluntly, deciding there was no harm in the truth. "To restore light to the island."

   "Restore the light? Well geez, if you're looking for light, you might try the hillside cave over there," a man pointed, indicating the far rock wall behind Bianco Lake nearby. Nestled up a ways on a small grassy overhang they could clearly see, even from there, a small dark opening or hole in the wall, on the outer edge of the big bowl.

   "I've seen a glowing light from in there before. Nobody knows what it is, but it might well be a shine sprite."

   "And what makes you think he won't just steal the shine sprite?" asked the persistent mother.

   "Then it won't be any different than if no one had found it at all," the man replied pointedly, placing a big hand on Mario's comparatively small shoulder. "But if this is the man who's saved our village, then I'm willing to give him a shot. If you're trying to get over there, I can give you a hurl, if you like," he offered the young human. "It's a lot quicker, as long as you're up to it."

   "Huh?" Mario asked, genuinely confused and feeling rather dwarfed by it all.

   "He means toss you over to the other side," the other woman clarified.

   The man nodded. "I don't know if you've ever heard, but we piantas are somewhat known for our amazing chucking ability. Some of us can throw people across amazing distances... and I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to use you for practice. My, uh, wife is better than me," he admitted sheepishly.

   Mario raised his eyebrows in confusion, but found himself agreeing to it. "Alright," he said uncertainly, glancing around.

   The pianta mother laughed a little harshly. "Hey, I can hurl him," she offered.

   "That's alright," the man replied, much to Mario's relief. Turning back to him, he said, "Ready to go?"

   "Yup," he answered, mostly just to get out of there and back doing something important. As the small group finally started to break up, someone spoke up.

   "Hey, wait! What about the windmill?"

   "What about it?" the windmill guy asked.

   "Well, it's got no roof now!" the man pointed out. "We have to repair it!"

   "Oh, that... it's not a hard job," the windmill guy replied. "It's not like we keep anything inside of it anyway."

   "But shouldn't this charming young man do something about it?" the pianta mother asked.

   "He's already helped plenty, if you ask me," the windmill guy answered. "We can take care of it, I assure you. No worries..."

   The lady crossed her arms again. "Hmph. Come on, you two," she instructed her kids, and they began to follow her and some of the others away towards the village.

   With that finally over, Mario felt a kind of freedom break over him. Turning to the windmill pianta, he said, "Hey, thanks. I'm sorry about the windmill, but..."

   He waved his hand. "Aw, like I said, no worries. We're just grateful for what you managed to do. I never actually saw Petey Piranha leave the windmill, though... what happened?"

   Mario glanced at the windmill, trying to keep his expression light. "He disappeared. I don't know if he'll be back anytime soon, but you might still keep an eye out."

   "Huh. Well, you can only imagine my shock when I heard the roof collapse," the pianta replied. "I knew you were up there and I felt pretty bad about it, to say the least."

   "Well, how's about you get back to looking for shine sprites?" the friendly man spoke up beside him, seeming eager to get moving. "We can always use those around here."

   "Yeah, are you going to bring them to the Shine Gate?" the windmill guy wanted to know.

   Mario slowly nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I've already got a couple, but I guess I'm always looking for more."

   "Then let me give you a lift," the man replied. Not seeming to care at all that Mario was still covered in brown slime, he suddenly grabbed him firmly by the waist. "Ready?"

   Mario, surprised and rather speechless at this point, just nodded. He wasn't sure what exactly he had gotten himself into, but he tried to just roll with it.

   And then the next second he was gone, sailing through the air over a stretch of Bianco Lake at an almost breakneck speed. For a couple of shocking instants the wind whistled past him and he couldn't see a thing as he flew; and then, almost just as abruptly, he landed.

   With a harsher than comfortable tumble, Mario hit the ground and rolled through the grass, coming to a stop against a short rock wall. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and looked around, shaking his dizzy head. Sure enough, he had landed on the opposite side of the lake.

   He had hit the lowest part right near the bank, only feet away from the water. Glancing up, he caught sight of the pianta who had thrown him across the lake, and waved.

   Getting up, Mario looked at his now grass-coated clothes and chuckled. "Okay, I think it's time for me to jump in the lake now."

   "Good idea," Fludd spoke up.

   Mario glanced back at him and grinned. In all the commotion, it could almost be easy to forget about him sometimes.

~

   By the time Mario had climbed up to the next shelf in the rock wall, his dripping clothes had already begun to dry out some. Not that it took him especially long, but the sun was so intense that it worked its magic surprisingly quickly.

   Wiping his forehead, Mario stood and looked upwards along the rock wall. There, just a few feet above, it gave way to a small grassy clearing, and the empty hole which was the hillside cave. From here he could already see the light shining from inside it.

   "There," he said, pointing. "I wonder why it's hiding in there in the first place?"

   "I suppose because it is relatively safe," Fludd answered honestly. "That is a little steep, though... how will you get up there?"

   Mario paused and glanced back over the lake below and the field beyond. Scattered about among the trees were a few even taller wooden posts, where similar tightropes, like high wires, were strung across over this end of the lake. He wondered what they were for.

   Rising in the wind on the tallest one was a flag, fluttering orange and white in the breeze. It was probably the flag of Bianco Hills or maybe Isle Delfino.

   Looking back up at his goal, Mario shook his head. "Watch and learn."

   In one quick bound, he suddenly sprang forward, pushed off the rock wall and jumped up, just managing to grab the cliff's edge above. Hanging by both hands on the crumbling edge, he quickly used his feet to scramble up its grassy surface and rise to the top. The hillside cave.

   Curious, Mario stepped forward, peering into its black depths. Sure enough, there was the golden shine sprite – it glowed brightly like a beacon in the darkness, almost calling for someone to take it home. If it was possible to show the thing compassion, that was the care with which Mario picked it up.

   "Well, that wasn't so hard," Fludd said upon his success. "We seem to be rolling!"

   Mario smiled, although he was half distracted. "What's in there?" he wanted to know, still looking beyond into the cave. "How deep is it?"

   "I do not know," Fludd said. "But I do not believe we have need to enter. We should get these shines back to Delfino Plaza now."

   "Yeah," Mario replied. Then he blinked. "Wait, Delfino Plaza? It's time to go back?"

   "I do not read any more shine sprites in the area, and we seem to have done good here," Fludd said. "I do not believe there is reason for us to stay."

   "Well why didn't you say so?" Mario asked happily, turning away from the cave.

   "I just did," Fludd answered.

   Mario was too busy making the reckless jump down to hear.

~

   One could never long stay both clean and dry on Isle Delfino, it seemed – as Mario would soon find out. They had no sooner reached the bottom than they realized that they were blocked off by a shallow strip of the lake, and only by crossing through could he get back to the real land. There were no piantas over here to toss him, either.

   "Oh, it is a shame," Fludd commented as Mario paused on the bank, staring at his path. "You will have to get wet all over again."

   But Mario had an idea. "Not quite. Look, there's a leaf boat!"

   He pointed to a round, giant floating disc nearby, lazily blowing towards them across the water's surface. It was about three feet in diameter – not huge, but big enough.

   "Well, what luck. The leaf boats from the Delfino palm fronds are quite sturdy; you should actually be able to ride it back," Fludd said as Mario drew nearer. "I believe the residents around here often do."

   He waited until it almost touched the shore, then carefully jumped out onto it like a frog to a lily pad. Sure enough, Fludd was right: it wobbled precariously under his weight, but if he stayed centered it wouldn't fall. Settling carefully along the stem as they floated adrift, Mario grinned and took hold of Fludd.

   "Now watch this."

   Tactfully aiming a stream of water in the direction of shore, Mario and Fludd held tight as the leaf boat surged forward through the water, carrying them to the opposite shore. The wind blowing in their favor also helped to propel them along, and for once, Mario managed not to touch a drop.

   Passing back again through the small streets of Windmill Village, Mario and Fludd saw a couple of familiar piantas as they headed for the exit.

   "Hey, did you find any shine sprites?" asked the friendly man who had thrown him.

   "Yup," Mario replied, patting his pocket. "I'm going back to Delfino Plaza now."

   "Nice work, buddy!"

   They had almost got to the river dividing the path from town when another familiar voice called to him.

   "Hey, mustache-dude!"

   Mario paused and turned, letting the boy Nathan catch up to him. He wasn't opposed to talking to the kid, it was just his mother...

   "You think I could borrow that funky squirter of yours?" he asked, completely honest.

   Mario broke into a smile. "Oh, well, maybe some other time," he said regretfully. "He's not really a toy, and... Fludd and I have some important work to do right now."

   "You mean restoring the light to the island? Yeah, that's so cool! I hope you succeed!"

   "Nathan!"

   Mario could feel his stomach turn over just at the sound of her voice. Oh no...

   The pianta mother tramped over and crossed her arms. "And what do you think you're doing?" she questioned her son.

   "Just talking to the mustache-dude," Nathan replied with a shrug. "Everybody's hoping he'll find the shine sprites!"

   "Yes, which begs the question, don't you have anything better to do?!" she asked, directing her glare towards Mario. "Then go do it!"

   Mario would have liked to answer. He really would have; he could have given some choice retort about how he was doing something, probably a lot more than she herself was. But he didn't get the chance.

   Probably just for the heck of it, she brought a heavy hand to the back of his head, almost knocking him forward into the river. Then, with what almost appeared to be a satisfied smirk, she took Nathan and went away.

  Mario just managed to catch his balance in surprise and stared at the river's murky surface below him. That had been too close.

   Fludd, who was rather amused at this point, turned his head towards him. "Well, she certainly does leave a delightful third impression," he commented. "It's no different from the first."

   Mario, who was too aghast to be extremely upset anymore, took a deep breath and shook his head, glancing up at the low tightrope that would be his ticket over the river dry.

   "Let's just get out of here, Fludd."